GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Gospel Misunderstandings.
by Mike McGlathery.
http://followchristspattern.com/12topics/GsplMisUnd/index-TL-GsplMisUnd.html
Most recently edited 20170915

Part 1, Introduction.

We are seeking the truth of God’s word.  To find God’s truth, God tells us to study His word, the preserved, pure Bible. In studying the Bible, we all must constantly be on guard to reject all preconceived ideas or opinions, in order to see the truth as it is actually stated in the Bible without our opinions shading the truth. 

In this study, rather than pointing my finger at you, or at myself, I will often use the terms, “some people think” or “some people say”, or “some people believe”.  Let us each consider whether we, ourselves fit into that category, and be alerted that others may be viewing the truth from those perspectives, or opinions. 

Some people (each of us) may at times need to be aware of, and purge out circular reasoning, and straw man tactics. For instance, when some people see the Bible refer to two gospel names their preconceived ideas cause them to think that it is two names of one same gospel. Some people build whole doctrines on the false assumption that there is only one gospel in the Bible. When they are shown various different gospels in the Bible they cling to what people have told them, that there is only one gospel in the Bible.  Let us all cling to what God says in His Bible, and purposely reject what our preconceived ideas suggest to us.

Part 1, #1.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDING #1.
DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME GOSPEL.

Some people see that First Thessalonians 2, verses 2, and 8, and 9, refer to the “gospel of God”, and then it is followed by First Thessalonians 3, verse 2 referring to the “gospel of Christ” and they plug that into their preconceived idea that there is only one gospel.  They read it as if it was two names for the same gospel. What they have done is to reject the words on the pages of the pure Bible in favor of the words they have been told by people, or by a mentor. 

There is a time gap between when Paul preached the “gospel of God” to the Thessalonians in Acts 17, verses 1, through 4, and when Paul sent Timothy to minister to them the “gospel of Christ” to save them. Paul said that at that time, the “gospel of Christ” was the gospel of salvation. 

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 
for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth; 
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Certain men came down from Judaea in Acts 15, verse 1, teaching that circumcision was necessary for them to be saved.  In Galatians 1, verse 7, Paul called that a perversion of the “gospel of Christ”. The “gospel of Christ” at that time, was the true gospel of salvation, and the false claim of needing to be circumcised to be saved, was a perversion of the gospel of salvation. 

According to First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, and 2, the “gospel of God” alone, that they had heard and believed in Acts 17, verses 1, through 4, did not save them, did not claim to save them, and could not save them.  They needed to hear, believe, and receive the gospel of salvation, the “gospel of Christ”, that Christ died for their sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. 

We can see that there is no Biblical basis for calling the “gospel of God” and the “gospel of Christ” the same gospel. God did NOT call them the same. We all need to be careful not to plant our own preconceived ideas in the minds of others. The “gospel of God” is foundation facts about who Jesus Christ is. The “gospel of Christ” is good news about what Christ did to save you who receive it to your own need of salvation. They are not the same gospel, or the same name.  God gave the two different gospels two different names for distinction. The “gospel of God” is the foundation.  The “gospel of Christ” is how to be saved. If a person is not clear on that, how can they believe what saves them?

One reason we need to clear up people’s understanding of what the Bible says that the different gospels are, is because only then can we understand about the differences in the dispensing of those gospels.

Part 1, #2.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDING #2.
NAME-CALLING AND INNUENDOES.

Some people, without firm facts, try to discredit those who expose clarifying Bible facts. They insinuate that Bible believers, who believe the pure Bible, as it was written, to whom it was written, are siding with other denominations, sects, or cults who may also believe that part of the Bible. It is an attack for some people to call Bible believers, Acts Twenty-Eighters when it is well known that these Bible believers believe, testify, and can show in scripture that the beginning of the body of Christ was at the salvation of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9. Acts Twenty-Eighters believe some things correctly out of the Bible, and some things incorrectly.  Just because Acts Twenty-Eighters believe something that the Bible does teach, does not poison it for Bible believers to believe that teaching from the Bible too, since it is something that the Bible does teach. 

To call someone a hybrid doctrine believer means that the name-caller does not believe the Bible truths being testified. They would not be comparing the doctrine to scripture, but rather they would be comparing the doctrine to man-made doctrines of various groups and denominations.

Part 1, #3.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #3.
REDEFINING.

Some people use tactics of redefining or comparing the gospels in order to put their spin on what God said in the Bible. For instance, they may take some key prophecies and tell you that they are part of the “gospel of God”, when the Bible never relates those prophecies with what the Bible names as gospels. They may claim that the “gospel of God” is bigger than the “gospel of Christ” in order to get you to accept their including of some prophecies as part of the “gospel of God”, when those prophecies are only prophecies and not the “gospel of God”.

Some people may try to include within the “gospel of God”, true prophecies such as: (1) God will send a Saviour, a Messiah, (2) who would die, (3) and that through him salvation would be provided.

Those are true prophecies, but they are not the “gospel of God”.  Paul wrote Romans 1, verses 1, through 7, as a prologue or introduction to his epistle to all that be in Rome. That entire prologue is one sentence. According to the context, only verses 1, through 4, are the “gospel of God”. The “gospel of God” is described or defined in Romans 1, verses 1, through 4, as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah, resurrected from the dead.

Romans 1:1 Paul, 
a servant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, 
separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised afore 
by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, 
according to the spirit of holiness, 
by the resurrection from the dead:

Part 1, #4.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #4.
PURITY OF THE UNMIXED GOSPELS.

Some people that do not understand the gospels in the Bible tend to mix them up together, compounding their confusion and that of those who hear them. The “gospel of God” is very specific, and the “gospel of Christ” is very specific. They are different and not the same. Some people see that both Peter, and then Paul preached the “gospel of God” and so they incorrectly conclude that both Peter and Paul preached the same gospel of salvation. You can see that they mix together the “gospel of God” with the gospel of salvation, the “gospel of Christ” at that time.

In the Bible, the “gospel of God” alone never promises salvation. The “gospel of God” identifies who Jesus is, who the Messiah was for Israel, it identifies Him. So, they were to believe the name (or identity) of Jesus Christ as shown by the “gospel of God”. 

The “gospel of God” is presented as the foundation (Matthew 16:18, First Corinthians 3:11) that sets apart a person to be acceptable to hear and believe the gospel of salvation. Before Paul, a person had to bless Israel in order to be acceptable to hear and believe the gospel of salvation at that time. The “gospel of Christ” was the gospel of salvation starting with Paul’s salvation. 

Part 2, #5.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #5.
DID PAUL UPDATE HIS MESSAGE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL?

Paul did not have to update his message at the “beginning of the gospel” that Paul mentioned in Philippians 4, verse 15. The message of the gospel remained the same good news of salvation, by faith, into the “SAME body of Christ”. It was different part of the gospel that changed. A gospel contains several parts: (1) a message or contents of the gospel, (2) the extent of the audience to whom it is sent, and (3) the time for which it applies. 

The contents of the gospel remained the same when the “gospel of Christ” became the “gospel of the grace of God”. The target audience changed. The targeted audience to whom the “gospel of Christ” was SENT ceased to be only the Jews first and also the Greeks. The targeted audience was widened to still be SENT them, and also to be SENT to all people. The time during which the “gospel of the grace of God” applies extends from the beginning of that gospel, mentioned in Philippians 4, verse 15, until when God stops dispensing His grace, and starts dispensing His long delayed wrath following the catching up of the “body of Christ”. 

It is convenient for some people to ignore the “gospel of Christ” and run the later “gospel of the grace of God” all the way back to before it is first mentioned, back to the beginning of the “body of Christ” in Acts 9. Just look at how few Bible time line charts contain any reference to the “GOSPEL OF CHRIST”. It’s like they are ashamed of the “gospel of Christ” which Paul mentions eleven times. I am not ashamed of the “gospel of Christ”: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek at that time.

Some people errantly say that SINCE Paul got a new gospel in Philippians 4, verse 15, that the former gospel must not have been a gospel of salvation.  WRONG! That is not true. The “gospel of God” is the foundation upon which the gospel of salvation is based. Both the “gospel of Christ” and the “gospel of the grace of God” are salvation gospels with the same content or message, but for different audiences, different addressees, and therefore different titles. They are not the same, even though the saving message remained the same.

The former gospel was not the “gospel of God”, but it was the “gospel of Christ”. It was the same saving message that Paul is recorded to have preached at least as early as in Antioch of Pisidia in Acts 13. It was the same saving message that unforgivable Saul of Tarsus was saved by as a pattern. It was the same saving message that we are saved by today by following that pattern of “believing on Him to life everlasting”. The new “gospel of the grace of God” that began when Philippians 4, verse 15 says it began was merely SENT to a wider audience, to all men.

Part 2, #6.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #6
DID PAUL “DEPART FROM” OR “GO INTO” MACEDONIA?

Some people wanting to discredit Christ’s earlier sending of Paul, try to switch the Bible’s time marker of when Christ SENT Paul on his later commission to dispense the “gospel of the grace of God” to all men. They try to say that the “beginning of the gospel” (of the grace of God to all men) was in Acts 16, verse 10, which says, 

Acts 16, verse 10, And after he had seen the vision, 
immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, 
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us 
for to preach the gospel unto them.

But that would place Christ’s SENDING of Paul to all men before the Acts 18, verse 22 temple vision, in which Christ told Paul that (in the future from then) He will send Paul far hence to the far off Gentiles. That doesn’t fit.  For integrity, Christ had to have SENT Paul after He told him that He “WILL SEND” him in the future from then. Because of Acts 22, verse 18, we know that Christ’s temple vision to Paul was during Paul’s briefest, recorded visit to Jerusalem in Acts 18, verse 22. Look at Acts 22,verse 18 to see why Paul left Jerusalem in a big hurry immediately after the temple vision.

Acts 22, verse 18,  And saw him saying unto me, 
Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: 
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

Look in Acts 16, verse 12, to see about Philippi in Macedonia.

Acts 16, verse 12, And from thence to Philippi, 
which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: 
and we were in that city abiding certain days. 
 
Do you see what your Bible says about Philippi, Macedonia? It says that Philippi is "the chief city of that part of Macedonia". So, when Paul sailed away from Philippi, he was departing from Macedonia, as he later looked back. and identified as being the beginning of the “gospel of the grace of God” to all men in Philippians 4, verse 15.

Philippians 4, verse 15, Now ye Philippians know also, 
that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, 
but ye only.

Do you see how Philippians 4, verse 15 is very specific?  If you simply read it as it is written you can realize that it interprets perfectly in line with the rest of the Holy scriptures. You can read it and without claiming there is an earlier beginning of the gospel than this “beginning of the gospel”, you can believe it as it was written. Does Philippians 4, verse 15 say that a gospel began when Paul departed from Macedonia? Did God mean it when He said it? Should we believe it? For someone to claim that we are wrongly interpreting Philippians 4, verse 15, they would have to find another scripture that is more specific, and says that the “gospel of the grace of God” began earlier than when Paul departed from Macedonia. Do you see how certain God wanted us to be about when the “gospel of the grace of God” began?

Part 2, #7.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #7
DID PAUL PREACH A SALVATION GOSPEL BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL?

Some people say that we teach that Paul did not preach the gospel of salvation until after the temple vision in Acts 18, or until after Christ later sent Paul in Acts 20, shortly after that temple vision. That shows they have mixed together the “gospel of Christ” to the Jews, with the “gospel of the grace of God” to all men. Christ SENT Paul with the “gospel of the grace of God”, at the end of the “gospel of Christ”, not at the end of the “gospel of God”. Christ SENT Paul to preach heavenly “body of Christ” salvation to the Jew first before He SENT him to preach salvation to all men. The “gospel of the grace of God” was not the first that the Bible tells of salvation into the “body of Christ”. Christ had earlier SENT Paul to the Jews with the same saving message by which Christ saved unforgivable Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9. The later SENDING of Paul to preach salvation to all men was not in addition to the new gospel, it was the new gospel with the same saving message.

Part 2, #8.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #8
DID PAUL PREACH SALVATION IN PHILIPPI?

Some people claim that we say that Paul only preached the “gospel of God” in Philippi. They get mixed up about when the “gospel of the grace of God” began, thinking that Philippians 4, verse 15 says Paul first preached the “gospel of the grace of God” in Philippi. But look at 

Philippians 4, verse 15, “Now ye Philippians know also, 
that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, 
but ye only.”

The subject that Paul speaks about in Philippians 4, verse 15 is that the Philippians partnered financially with Paul when he was there at Philippi Macedonia, before he departed from Macedonia.   You can see that Paul does not say anything here about what he preached at Philippi.  But, earlier in Philippians, Paul does tell us what gospel the Philippians heard and believed. 
Philippians 1, verse 27,  “Only let your conversation 
be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: 
that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, 
I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, 
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel….”

Paul called the gospel that the Philippians heard and believed, the “gospel of Christ”, being preached to them before the dividing line called, "the beginning", “the beginning of the gospel” (of the grace of God to all men). That dividing line is described by Paul in Philippians 4, verse 15 as being 

“when I DEPARTED FROM Macedonia”, 

Paul did not say when I preached in Philippi Macedonia.

That Philippian jailor was probably NOT a Jew.  So why did Paul preach the “gospel of Christ” to him and to all his family? Christ’s Acts 9 commissioning of Paul that he told about in Acts 26, verses 16, through 20, was NOT a restriction, restricting to whom Paul could preach.  But rather, it was a SENDING, charging Paul with the responsibility of getting the “gospel of Christ” to the Jew first and also to the Greeks, those Gentiles in the synagogues aligned with Israel, Israel’s God, Israel’s book, Israel’s covenants, and Israel’s commandments. Israel had fallen, but for the sake of individual Jews that would believe, God was still diminishing Israel (Romans 11, verses 5-6, First Corinthians 7, verses 17-20). 

Part 3, #9.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #9
WHAT WAS NEW ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL?

Let’s look at Philippians 4, verse 15 again. 

“Now ye Philippians know also, 
that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, 
but ye only.” 

When Paul departed from Macedonia, there was a beginning of the gospel.  But, what gospel began when Paul departed from Macedonia? 

The "beginning of the gospel was too late to be about the "gospel of God" that is mentioned in Acts 9, verses 20, 22, and 29, and in Acts 13, verses 30 through 37, and here in Acts 17, verse 3, according to First Thessalonians 2, verse  9.  

1 Thessalonians 2:9  For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: 
for labouring night and day, 
because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, 
we preached unto you the GOSPEL OF GOD.

It was too late to be the “gospel of Christ” mentioned in Acts 13, verses 38 through 39, and in Philippians 1, verse 27 about Acts 16, verses 12 through 34. 

Philippians 1:27  Only let your conversation be 
as it becometh the gospel of Christ: 
that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, 
I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, 
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

When you find the verses where Paul sailed away from Philippi Macedonia, then eighteen verses later, God named that gospel the “gospel of the grace of God” in the testifying of, or the “dispensation of the grace of God”. 

Christ introduced the mystery of Christ to Paul in a dispensing of the gospel of Christ to the Jews as seen by Paul’s manner of first going to the synagogues to preach the gospel of God, then the gospel of Christ to the Jew first.  The target audience changed from THE JEWS, to ALL MEN, when Christ later SENT Paul to all men to dispense or testify the gospel of the grace of God starting in Acts 20. The content or saving message of the gospel remained the same as spelled out in First Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 6. 

1 Corinthians 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you 
the gospel which I preached unto you, 
which also ye have received, 
and wherein ye stand;
1 Corinthians 15:2  By which also ye are saved, 
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, 
unless ye have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, 
how that Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4  And that he was buried, 
and that he rose again the third day 
according to the scriptures:
1 Corinthians 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, 
then of the twelve:
1 Corinthians 15:6  After that, he was seen of 
above five hundred brethren at once; 
of whom the greater part remain unto this present, 
but some are fallen asleep.

BEFORE the “beginning of that gospel”, Paul called that saving message “my gospel” in Romans 2, verse 16, and in Romans 16, verse 26. Also, AFTER the “beginning of the gospel”, Paul called that saving message “my gospel” in Second Timothy 2, verse 8. So the saving message, or content of the gospel remained the same in the “gospel of the grace of God” as it had been in the “gospel of Christ”.

Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to 
MY GOSPEL, and 
the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, 
which was kept secret since the world began,
2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David 
was raised from the dead according to MY GOSPEL:

Another passage of scripture where the saving message before the “beginning of the gospel” shows to be the same saving message as that after the “beginning of the gospel, is in: 

Ephesians 1, verse 12,  That WE should be to the praise of his glory, 
who FIRST TRUSTED in Christ. 
Ephesians 1, verse 13,  In whom YE ALSO TRUSTED, 
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: 
in whom also after that ye believed, 
ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise….

In Ephesians 1, verse 12, those Ephesians of Acts 18, who “first trusted in Christ” were trusting the “gospel of Christ” in the Acts period, according to First Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 6. In Ephesians 1, verse 13, those Ephesians who also trusted after that they heard the gospel of their salvation were trusting the “gospel of the grace of God” after Paul’s later SENDING, according to First Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 6.  Both before and after the “beginning of the gospel”, they in Ephesus trusted in the gospel of their salvation in First Corinthians 15, verses 1, through 6. It was not two different saving messages. It was not two different programs. It was the same saving message of the same salvation into the same body of Christ. 

Part 3, #10.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #10
DID PHILIPPI HEAR THE GOSPEL: OF GRACE, OF CHRIST, OR ONLY OF GOD?

Implications are made that we Bible believers claim that the “gospel of Christ” began in Acts 18.  But, that is not true. Christ did reveal the “gospel of the grace of God” to Paul in his temple vision, in Acts 18, verse 22, but had not yet COMMISSIONED him to go to preach it to all men until Acts 20, verse 6, when he departed from Philippi Macedonia. That was all in connection with Christ’s later SENDING of Paul to dispense the “gospel of the grace of God” as Paul told about it in Acts 22, verses 17, through 21. 

Acts 22:17  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, 
even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
Acts 22:18  And saw him saying unto me, 
Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: 
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
Acts 22:19  And I said, 
Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue 
them that believed on thee:
Acts 22:20  And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, 
I also was standing by, 
and consenting unto his death, 
and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
Acts 22:21  And he said unto me, 
Depart: for I WILL SEND thee FAR HENCE unto the Gentiles.

Christ said to Paul, “DEPART”.  In other words, what part did you NOT understand of “make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem”? Before Christ’s later SENDING of Paul, Christ had already appeared to Paul in Acts 9 to reveal His mystery pattern of saving formerly unforgivable sinners into the “body of Christ”. The gospel in that earlier “dispensation of the gospel” was the “gospel of Christ” as told about in First Corinthians 9, verses 12, 17 and 18. 

1 Corinthians 9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, 
are not we rather? 
Nevertheless we have not used this power; 
but suffer all things, lest we should hinder THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.
1 Corinthians 9:17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: 
but if against my will, 
a dispensation of THE GOSPEL is committed unto me.
1 Corinthians 9:18 What is my reward then? 
Verily that, when I preach the gospel, 
I may make THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST without charge, 
that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

That saving gospel is detailed in First Corinthians 15, verses 1 through 6 as we saw earlier. That earlier commissioning of Paul to the Jew first and also to the Greek extended from Acts 13, verses 2 and 4, until Christ sent Paul to all men at the "beginning of the gospel", with the dispensing of that gospel of the grace of God to all men.  

Part 4, still #10.

Acts 18, verse 22 was NOT the "beginning of the gospel", but it was the temple vision, with Christ telling Paul that there would be a “beginning of the gospel” committed to Paul in the future, which happened in Acts 20, verse 6, being the "beginning of the gospel" as stated in Philippians 4, verse 15. Paul, even later, told about his temple vision in Acts 22, verses 17 through 21. So the sequence of the three chapters involved are that in Acts 18, Christ told Paul in His temple vision that shortly He would SEND him to all men. In Acts 20, Paul received that SENDING at the “beginning of the gospel” when he departed from Philippi Macedonia.  In Acts 22, Paul testified to King Agrippa about that temple vision which had been back in Acts 18.

Those Bible facts show that before Acts 18, the “gospel of Christ” was already being preached by Paul from at least Acts 13 through to the “beginning of the gospel” in Acts 20. Paul received of Christ the ministry to testify the "gospel of the grace of God", which is different from the "gospel of Christ" ONLY in regard to its wider target audience, and it is different in regard to the time of its start and finish.  But it is not different in regard to its content or saving message.

Paul established his mode of operation through unbroken repetition. The scriptural accounts are sometimes specific and sometimes non-specific, but whenever they are specific, they always tell that Paul always ascertained whether his audience had heard and believed the “gospel of God” before he would preach to them the “gospel of Christ”, the gospel of salvation. In the following verse list you can see that progression in Rome, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and then in Ephesus.

In Rome. 		Romans 1:1-4, then 1:16.
In Philippi. 		Acts 16:14-15, and Acts 16:30-34.
In Thessalonica. 	Acts 17:2-3, and First Thessalonians 2:2, 8, 9, then 3:1-7.
In Corinth. 		Acts 18:4-5, then Acts 18:7-11.
In Ephesus. 		Acts 18:19,28, then Acts 20:24

Part 4, #11.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #11
DOES GOD’S MEANING DIFFER FROM THE WORDS ON THE PAGE?

Some people think we are privately interpreting the right division verses in opposition to God’s meaning of the rest of scripture. They say things like: "I see the verses, but I don't believe they mean what you are saying".  It is because of their preconceived ideas, and those of their mentors, that they don’t believe the verses shown them on the pages of the Bible.

Part 4, #12.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #12
KEEP CONTEXT AND SEQUENCE OF WRITINGS.

In Acts 18, when Paul wrote First Thessalonians, he was looking back to events that happened in Acts 17, not only to his own preaching the gospel of God in Thessalonica, in Acts 17, verses 2, through 5, but he was also looking back to the events that Timothy had reported back about as Paul noted in First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, and 7. 

Notice that Paul calls the gospel of salvation, “OUR GOSPEL”, not just “my gospel” in this case, as if he was the only one preaching it. Paul included his “fellowlabourer in the 'gospel of Christ'”, Timothy, when identifying the gospel of salvation, referring to it as “OUR GOSPEL”. That was the gospel of salvation that the Thessalonians were saved by when Timothy went back and ministered it to them.

In First Thessalonians 1, verses 4, through 8, Paul said that the Thessalonians had elected, or chosen, God by “OUR GOSPEL” which “came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost ….” At that time, the gospel that was THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION, was the "gospel of Christ".

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 
for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth; 
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Paul was NOT saying that he preached the "gospel of Christ" to them in Acts 17. That would be contradictory. Paul was saying that the Thessalonians heard and believed the gospel of Christ from Timothy after Paul sent him back in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, and 2.

1 Thessalonians 3:1 Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, 
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1 Thessalonians 3:2 And sent Timotheus, 
our brother, 
and minister of God, 
and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish you, and to comfort you 
concerning your faith:

Four verses later, Paul reports to have heard back from Timothy that the Thessalonians heard and believed the “gospel of Christ” that Timothy ministered to them as Paul’s “fellowlabourer in the ‘gospel of Christ’”.

1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of YOUR FAITH and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress 
by YOUR FAITH:

So by Paul’s Acts 18 writing of First Thessalonians, Paul knew Timothy’s good tidings of their FAITH, that the Thessalonians had believed Timothy’s ministering to them the “gospel of Christ”. In First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, and 7, Paul reported that the Thessalonians had been saved, not in First Thessalonians 2 or 1, or in Acts 17, verses 1, through 10, and not between Acts 17, verse 15, and Acts 18, verse 5. In other words, when Paul first sat down to start writing First Thessalonians 1, verses 1, 5, 9, and 10, he already knew that they have believed, "our gospel", the "gospel of Christ" ministered to them by Timothy under Paul's direction, "fellowlabouring", and sending (First Thessalonians 3:2).

Part 4, #13.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #13
GOSPEL OF CHRIST, MY GOSPEL, OUR GOSPEL.

In Romans 1, verse 16, Paul names the “gospel of Christ” as Christ’s saving gospel, at that time, of which he is not ashamed. In other words, Paul claims the “gospel of Christ” as his life changer. 

Romans 1, verse 16,  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 
for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth; 
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Paul’s next mention of his life changing gospel is to refer to it as “my gospel” by which, God will judge between who is not saved, and who is saved and delivered from the wrath to come. 

Romans 2, verse 16,  In the day when 
God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ 
according to “my gospel”. 

So, Paul calls the “gospel of Christ” “my gospel”. 

When Paul and his associates went from synagogue to synagogue, their manner would be to preach the “gospel of God” before preaching the “gospel of Christ” to those who had believed the “gospel of God”. Paul referred to the “gospel of Christ” that he and his associates preached as “our gospel” in: 

Second Thessalonians 2, verse 14, 
Whereunto he called you by “our gospel”, 
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

The obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ only comes from believing the “gospel of Christ” to give you life everlasting.

Part 5, #14.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #14
WHICH “BEGINNING”?

Some people try to discredit Paul’s identification of “the beginning of the gospel” by tying it to the use of the word “beginning” in Second Thessalonians 2, verse 13.  But the context is contrary to that, which shows their unwarranted resistance to what God is saying in His Bible. See for yourself. 

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God 
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, 
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
through sanctification of the Spirit 
and 
belief of the truth:

Paul late explained the sanctification of the Spirit in 
Romans 15:16  
That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, 
ministering the gospel of God, 
that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, 
being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

Now, see what a plain and clear reading of Philippians 4, verse 15, shows about “the beginning of the gospel”. 

Philippians 4, verse 15,  Now ye Philippians know also, that 
in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, 
but ye only. --  

You can easily understand that Paul was referencing the time when he “departed from Macedonia” as being “the beginning of the gospel”.  It is not “A beginning of the gospel”, as if that was one of several beginnings of the gospel.  It is “THE beginning of the gospel”.  Paul specified that when he departed from Macedonia, it was “THE beginning of THE gospel” 

Paul did not go into detail about what gospel began at the time he was referring to in Philippians 4, verse 15.  But, it can be easily determined from scripture. Those to whom Paul was writing in Philippi had been saved by the “gospel of Christ” during the time when Paul visited there in Acts 16, verses 12 through 40. 

Philippians 1, verse 27,  Only let your conversation be 
as it becometh the gospel of Christ: 
that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, 
I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, 
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

From the context, apparently those Jews in Philippi were already “gospel of God” believers by the time that Paul arrived in Philippi. According to Acts 16, verses 13, and 14, the Jews that Paul spoke with in Philippi were no longer worshipping in the Jewish synagogue in Philippi, “the chief city of that part of Macedonia”. Philippi, being the chief city would, no doubt, have had a synagogue, as James said in Acts 15, verse 21. In several places, the Lord gave the reason why those Jews were not allowed in Philippi's synagogue.

John 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: 
for the Jews had agreed already, 
that if any man did confess that he was Christ, 
he should be put out of the synagogue.
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: 
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you 
will think that he doeth God service.
John 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; 
but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, 
lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

So, believers that Jesus is the risen Messiah were not welcome in the synagogues. Also, Acts 16, verses 13, and 14 hint that they already believed as the little flock believed, according to Hebrews 13, verses 12, and 13. 

Hebrews 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, 
that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, 
suffered without the gate.
Hebrews 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, 
bearing his reproach.

Compare those verses from Hebrews 13, with these verses from Acts 16.

Acts 16:13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, 
where prayer was wont to be made; 
and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, 
a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, 
heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, 
that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

Also, there were those that believed Jesus was the Messiah and Lord, and who were baptized in their belief as saved individuals believing the “gospel of Christ”. That was before the temple vision DIVIDING LINE, after which Paul was SENT “NOT TO BAPTIZE”. 

Acts 16:30  And brought them out, and said, 
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Acts 16:31  And they said, 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Acts 16:32  And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, 
and to all that were in his house.
Acts 16:33  And he took them the same hour of the night, 
and washed their stripes; 
and was baptized, 
he and all his, straightway.
Acts 16:34  And when he had brought them into his house, 
he set meat before them, and rejoiced, 
believing in God with all his house.

In Acts 16, verse 31, Paul did not say believe IN the Lord Jesus Christ as in: believe IN His sonship, believe IN His Messiahship, or believe IN His resurrection. No, that would have only been believing IN the “gospel of God” facts about who Jesus is. No, in Acts 16, verse 31, Paul said “Believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”. In other words, rely on, depend on, rest on, “Believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” upon belief. 

The point here is that Paul wrote back in his earliest post-Acts epistle to the Philippians stating in chapter 1, verse 27, that they had been saved by the “gospel of Christ”.  So the “gospel of Christ” was still in effect in Acts 16 when Paul visited Philippi.  The “gospel of the grace of God” to all men had to have come later than that.

Philippians 1, verse 27,  Only let your conversation be 
as it becometh the gospel of Christ: 
that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, 
I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, 
with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

The only gospel that Paul titled LATER than the “gospel of Christ”, he referenced in Acts 20, verses 24, and 25.  

Acts 20, verses 24, and 25,  But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course with joy, 
AND 
the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, 
to testify (or dispense) the “gospel of the grace of God”. 
Acts 20:25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, 
among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, 
shall see my face no more.

Some people try to change the meaning of that clear and specific verse and context, but that only shows their loyalty to their human mentor is stronger than their loyalty to God, and His word. They try to connect Second Thessalonians 2, verse 13 and 14, to the “beginning of the gospel”. Let’s look at Second Thessalonians 2, verse 13 and 14.

2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, 
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, 
brethren beloved of the Lord, 
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
through 
sanctification of the Spirit 
and 
belief of the truth:
2 Thessalonians 2, verse 14,  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, 
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a major difference between “the beginning” (“before the foundation of the world”) when God chose believers to salvation, and “the beginning” of the gospel when a new audience was targeted for the saving message that already existed, by which Paul had been saved.

Actually, the term, “the beginning”, in Second Thessalonians 2, verse 13 and 14 more accurately refers to what Paul referred to in Ephesians 1, verse 4, and in Romans 8, verse 29.  

Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him 
before the foundation of the world, 
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:    

And, in 

Romans 8, verse 29, For whom he did foreknow, 
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, 
that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Romans 8, verse 30,  Moreover whom he did predestinate, 
them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

It shows poor study habits when some people merely do a word search to find the same word somewhere else and then say that this means that, regardless of the context.  I hope no one reading this ever resorts to those tactics to try to convince people of their own preconceived ideas and opinions.

Part 5, #15.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #15.
WHO CALLED THE THESSALONIANS?

Look in Second Thessalonians 2, verses 13 and 14. God, who chose them according to verse 13, also called them according to verse 14.

2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,  
“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God 
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, 
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
2 Thessalonians 2, verse 14,  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, 
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  

God, who chose them according to verse 13, also called them according to verse 14.

Part 6, #16.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #16.
ACTS THESSALONICA VISIT DETAILED IN FIRST THESSALONIANS.

Bible believers need to be aware of the details that are given of Paul’s mode of operation when preaching the good news. We need to study it carefully to learn it thoroughly because there are some people that do not see it and they resist learning the Bible truth about Paul’s mode of operation. Fortunately, God put one of Paul’s destinations under a microscope for us to clearly and specifically see all that was involved. Let’s consider Paul’s approach at Thessalonica. It is very enlightening.

Let’s look at three sections within First Thessalonians chapters 2 and 3. (1,) First Thessalonians 2, verses 1 through 13 give some details of what is told in Acts 17, verses 1 through 4. (2,) First Thessalonians 2, verses 14 through 20 give some details of what is told in Acts 17, verses 5 through 16. (3,) First Thessaloniasn 3, verses 1 through 13 tell of Paul sending Timothy to minister the “gospel of Christ” to establish them, and what was the result of Timothy’s mission.

Acts 17, verses 1 through 4 tell us that Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica and as his manner was, he preached the gospel of God facts that Christ had risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus, is Christ. A great multitude of devout Greeks and chief women believed and consorted with Paul and Silas. 

THIRTEEN STAGES OF PAUL’S ENCOUNTER WITH THE THESSALONIANS.

(1)
Acts 17:1-2, Paul visited Thessalonica’s synagogue to find the Jews, and their scriptures.

Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
 they came to Thessalonica, 
where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, 
went in unto them, 
and three sabbath days 
reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

(2)
Acts 17:3, Paul reasoned out of the scriptures with them, showing the “gospel of God. 

Acts 17:3 Opening and alleging, 
that Christ must needs have suffered, 
and risen again from the dead; 
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

1st Thessalonians 2:2, Paul spoke the “gospel of God”, with much contention.

1 Thessalonians 2:2 But even after that we had suffered before, 
and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, 
we were bold in our God to speak unto you 
the GOSPEL OF GOD with much contention.

1st Thessalonians 2:4, Paul was put in trust with the (aforementioned) “gospel (of God”).
1 Thessalonians 2:4 But as we were allowed of God 
to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; 
not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

What about us?
Do we speak “even so”, not going beyond what is written, 
but allowing the scripture to claim 
that Paul preached the “gospel of God” in Thessalonica, 
and not adding to that the “gospel of Christ” for salvation, 
until the scripture says that they got to hear the “gospel of Christ”?

1st Thessalonians 2:8, We were willing to have imparted unto you our own souls. 
Paul paid his bills by being a tentmaker.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 So being affectionately desirous of you, 
we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, 
but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.

Paul explains “also our own souls” in the next verse. 
“labouring night and day, because 
we would not be chargeable unto any of you ….” 

1st Thessalonians 2:9, We preached unto you the “gospel of God”.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: 
for labouring night and day, 
because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, 
we preached unto you the GOSPEL OF GOD.

(3) 
1st Thessalonians 2:13, The body of Christ apostles were thankful 
that when the Thessalonians heard the “gospel of God” 
which they had heard, they had RECEIVED it as the word of God.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, 
when ye RECEIVED the word of God WHICH YE HEARD OF US, 
ye RECEIVED it not as the word of men, 
but as it is in truth, the word of God, 
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

(4)
Acts 17:4, A great multitude that believed the “gospel of God” facts 
about the identity of Jesus 
“consorted” with Paul in his meetings, 
not related to the synagogue, 
probably meeting in Jason’s house. 

Acts 17:17  Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, 
and with the devout persons, 
and in the market daily with them that MET WITH HIM.

Acts 17:4  And some of them believed, 
and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.

(5)
1st Thessalonians 2:14, The Thessalonians suffered like things of their own countrymen, 
as the churches of God in Judaea have of the Jews. 

Acts 17:5  But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, 
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, 
and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, 
and sought to bring them out to the people.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God 
which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: 
for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, 
even as they have of the Jews:

1st Thessalonians 2:16, Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles (Acts 17:4-5), 
referred to again in 1st Thessalonians 2:2). 
Which Gentiles?

1 Thessalonians 2:16 Forbidding us 
to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, 
to fill up their sins alway: 
for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

	“their”
	“them”
Both those pronouns are PLURAL, being multiple individual Jews, 
not SINGULAR, being the nation Israel.
Israel fell in Acts 7, BUT as late as here in Acts 17, in Thessalonica, 
individual Jews still had the opportunity to believe the “gospel of God”, 
during Israel’s diminishing, as in the Acts 19 writing of 
First Corinthians 7, verses 17, through 20.
The Jews here in First Thessalonians 2, verse 16, 
were rejecting God’s final opportunity 
to believe Him, by the “gospel of God”.

Also, notice WHICH GENTILES Paul was referring to when he wrote, 
“Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles”

Acts 17:4  And some of them 
believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.
1 Thessalonians 2:2  But even after that we had suffered before, 
and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, 
we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God 
with much contention.

1st Thessalonians 3:3-4, We told you before that we should suffer tribulation. 

1 Thessalonians 3:3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: 
for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
1 Thessalonians 3:4 For verily, when we were with you, 
we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; 
even as it came to pass, and ye know.

	When did it come to pass?

(First Thessalonians 2:2, 14-16).
1 Thessalonians 2:2 But even after that we had suffered before, 
and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, 
we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God 
with much contention
. 1 Thessalonians 2:14 For ye, brethren, 
became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: 
for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, 
even as they have of the Jews:
1 Thessalonians 2:15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, 
and have persecuted us; 
and they please not God, 
and are contrary to all men:
1 Thessalonians 2:16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles 
THAT THEY MIGHT be saved, 
to fill up their sins alway: 
for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

“THAT THEY MIGHT be saved” is 
further confirming proof that the “gospel of God” 
preached unto them was NOT alone able to save them, 
but it was the foundation that prepared them 
to hear and believe the “gospel of Christ” that saves, 
which Paul sent Timothy back to establish them with.

Acts 17:5, The disbelieving Thessalonian Jews set all the Thessalonica in an uproar. 

Acts 17:5  But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

(6)
Acts 17:10, The brethren safely sent Paul away 
from Thessalonica to Berea, 
and many there believed. 

Acts 17:10  And the brethren immediately sent away 
Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: 
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

(7)
1st Thessalonians 2:18, Twice, Paul tried returning to Thessalonica, but Satan hindered.

1 Thessalonians 2:18  Wherefore we would have come unto you, 
even I Paul, ONCE AND AGAIN; 
but Satan hindered us.

(8)
Acts 17:13, The Thessalonian Jews came and stirred up the Bereans. 

Acts 17:13  But when the Jews of Thessalonica 
had knowledge that the word of God 
was preached of Paul at Berea, 
they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

(9)
Acts 17:15, They that were to conduct Paul 
received a commandment for Silas and Timotheus 
to come to Paul with all speed.

Acts 17:15  And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: 
and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus 
for to come to him with all speed, 
they departed.

1st Thessalonians 3:1-2, Paul waited in distress at Athens 
having sent Timothy with the “gospel of Christ” 
to establish them concerning their FAITH.

1 Thessalonians 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, 
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1 Thessalonians 3:2  And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, 
and our FELLOWLABOURER IN THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, 
to ESTABLISH you, 
and to comfort you CONCERNING YOUR FAITH:

1st Thessalonians 3:5, Paul sent Timothy TO KNOW THEIR FAITH

1 Thessalonians 3:5  For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, 
I sent to know YOUR FAITH, 
lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, 
and our labour be in vain.

(10)
Acts 17:15, Paul was brought to Athens.

Acts 17:15  And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
	Could Timothy and Paul have been on the same route? 
NO, Timothy went out of the way, to Thessalonica.

Acts 17:16, Paul waited for Timotheus and Silas at Athens

Acts 17:16  Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, 
his spirit was stirred in him, 
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

(11) 
First Thessalonians 3, verse 6, Timothy came to Paul with news of the Thessalonians’ FAITH. 

1 Thessalonians 3:6  But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of YOUR FAITH and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:

(12)
1st Thessalonians 3:6-7, and 9, Paul was finally comforted, 
relieved of his distress, 
and joyful by Timothy coming with news that 
the Thessalonians had FAITH in the gospel of salvation, the “gospel of Christ”.

1 Thessalonians 3:6  But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7  Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress 
by your FAITH:
1 Thessalonians 3:9  For what thanks can we render to God again for you, 
for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;

(13)
1st Thessalonians 3:8, 10-13, Paul was eager to continue his 
teaching, edifying, and influencing the Thessalonian believers’ 
growth to complete understanding and reliance 
on the many things God does in the believer, 
such as what Paul presents in his post Acts period epistles.

1 Thessalonians 3:8  For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 3:10  Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
1 Thessalonians 3:11  Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
direct our way unto you.
1 Thessalonians 3:12  And the Lord make you 
to increase and abound in love one toward another, 
and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1 Thessalonians 3:13  To the end he may stablish your hearts 
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Part 7, #17.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #17
PAUL’S MANNER AND SEQUENCE OF THE GOSPELS.

Some people try to discredit the literal understanding of First Thessalonians chapters 2 and 3, and the gospels that Paul specifies in those chapters regarding his approach with those at Thessalonica. THEY SAY THAT WE BIBLE BELIEVERS CLAIM that Timothy’s ministering of the “gospel of Christ” was an “advancement” of the gospel, a good news of a new and different program, different from the "gospel of God" that Paul preached in Acts 17, verse 3. 

Acts 17:3 Opening and alleging, that 
Christ must needs have suffered, 
and risen again from the dead; 
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

They misunderstand both the passage, and our teaching of it. We do NOT teach or believe that.

Paul began preaching the “gospel of Christ” as the gospel of salvation to the Jews and Jew blessers at least as early s Acts 13, verse 38. So, it was NOT an “advancement” of a new program, or of a new saving message at the time of Acts 17 or later in Thessalonica. At a later time, in Acts 20, verse 6, there was an “advancement” of Paul’s SENDING with the same, saving message of salvation, extending it from the “gospel of Christ” being SENT to the Jews and Jew blessers, and extending it to all men as the “gospel of the grace of God”. Just after that extention, Paul revealed: 

“the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, 
to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” 

Testifying is a type of dispensing. So, Acts 20, verse 24 is the Bible’s first revealing of the testifying or dispensing of the “gospel of the grace of God”. 

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course with joy, 
and 
the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, 
to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Notice that Paul’s earlier SENDING was to “the work”.  But starting in Acts 20, verse 6, Paul’s SENDING became to “the ministry” that he has received. To place the start of the “dispensation of the grace of God” before that time when the Bible first mentions it, is to go beyond what is written, adding to the Bible. 

We can see that the “gospel of God” was described AS EARLY AS Matthew 16, verse 16 for Israel, and described as early as in Acts 9, verse 20 for Paul. And, it NEVER ENDS. 

Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, 
Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God.
Acts 9:20 And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, 
that he is the Son of God.

The “gospel of Christ” to the Jew first STARTED in Acts 13, verse 38-39 (possibly Acts 13, verse 4), and according to Philippians 4, verse 15, it ENDED in Acts 20, verse 6. 

Acts 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that 
through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Acts 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, 
from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Philippians 4:15 Now ye Philippians know also, that 
in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
no church communicated with me 
as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
Acts 20:6 And we sailed away from Philippi 
after the days of unleavened bread, 
and came unto them to Troas in five days; 
where we abode seven days.

The "gospel of Christ" ENDED by being renamed the “gospel of the grace of God”, being extended to all men, with that name change to identify the change in the target audience. The “gospel of the grace of God” BEGAN in Acts 20, verse 6 (according to Philippians 4, verse 15), and will END at the catching up of the body of Christ.

So, the “advancement” in Christ's SENDING of Paul, from the “gospel of God” to the “gospel of Christ” came in Acts 13, verse 38.  And, the “advancement” in Christ's SENDING of Paul, from “the gospel of Christ” to the “gospel of the grace of God” came in Acts 20, verse 6. Neither of those “advancements” occurred in Thessalonica in Paul’s specific preaching as dissected in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1 and 2.  

That was actually the next step in what the Bible calls Paul’s manner (or Paul’s mode of operation). Comparing scripture with scripture, we find that Paul’s manner was to: 
(1,) go to a city, 
(2,) go to where the Jews met for their Sabbath meeting, 
(3,) preach to them the “gospel of God”, 
(4,) separate out into Paul’s meeting those who believed the “gospel of God”, 
(5,) preach to them the “gospel of Christ”, 
(6a,) (by First Corinthians 7, verses 17-20) those called in circumcision 
believed the “circumcision gospel” and 
became “the circumcision” meeting separately, 
(6b,) Those called in uncircumcision believed 
Paul’s “gospel of Christ” into the “body of Christ” and 
met together in Paul’s meetings. 
“Some believed and some believed not.”

Again, the “gospel of God” is God’s testimony as to who Jesus is, the resurrected Messiah.  The “gospel of Christ” “to the Jew first and also to the Greek is God’s good news that people are saved by receiving to their own need Christ’s salvation from their condemnation in God’s wrath.  The “gospel of the grace of God” is God’s good news to all men that you can be saved by receiving to your own need Christ’s salvation from your condemnation to God’s wrath.

In Acts 20, there was a change in the name of the gospel of salvation from the “gospel of Christ” to the “gospel of the grace of God”, but it retained the same saving message. So, Paul preached the same saving message from Acts 13 till his death, with an audience change and gospel name change occurring when Christ SENT him to preach salvation to all men at the “beginning of the gospel” in Acts 20, verse 6.  Paul's visit and preaching to Thessalonica in Acts 17 and 18 was NOT an “advancement” but a continuation of the same saving message and gospel content.

Those people who try to impose a straw man argument against what the verses say, are introducing the word “advancement” to describe Paul having sent Timothy to minister unto them the “gospel of Christ” in First Thessalonians 3, verse 2.  Then they show that the “gospel of Christ” is not an “advancement” at that time, but a continuation of what Acts, Galatians, and First Thessalonians show to be the “gospel of Christ” to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

In Galatians 1:7, 1st Thessalonians 3:2, 1st Corinthians 9:18, 2nd Corinthians 10:14, and Romans 1:16, specifically, in Thessalonica, Paul preached the “gospel of God” in Acts 17, verses 1, through 4. But the apostate Jews running the synagogue rebelled and ran Paul out of town before he could preach the “gospel of Christ” to the “gospel of God” believers who had faith in the “gospel of God”.  

Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to minister the "gospel of Christ" to those “gospel of God” believers, to establish them.  In First Thessalonians 3, verses 6 and 7, Paul was distressed and afflicted until he heard back from Timothy that the Thessalonians had believed the gospel of salvation that Timothy ministered to them, the “gospel of Christ”.

1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress 
by your faith:

Part 7, #18.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #18
SET APART, SALVATION, ESTABLISHED

Paul had taken on God’s will as his own will. 

1 Timothy 2, verse 4,  Who will have all men to be saved, 
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Paul preached the “gospel of God” to the Jews and Greeks at Thessalonica, and some believed it. Then Timothy preached the “gospel of Christ” to the “gospel of God” believers, and some believed it. Then, when Paul heard of their faith in the “gospel of Christ”, he prayed that he “might perfect that which is lacking in your faith”.  That is Paul’s “preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery” that they would be established by an understanding of who they are in Christ, Christ in you. That is the working out of what Paul said in 

Romans 1, verse 11,  “For I long to see you, 
that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, 
to the end ye may be established;
Romans 1, verse 12,  That is, 
that I may be comforted together with you 
by the mutual faith both of you and me.” 

In Romans 1, verse 8, the Romans had a faith, but it was faith in the “gospel of God”.  

Romans 1:8, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, 
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.	

Paul wanted to establish them in the “gospel of Christ”, and further their edification as in Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8.

Part 8, #19.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #19
REVIEWING THE ENTIRE PROCESS AT THESSALONICA.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 For OUR GOSPEL came not unto you in word only, 
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; 
as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

In Acts 18, when Paul wrote First Thessalonians 1, verse 5, using the term “our gospel”, he was looking back to Thessalonica, after both Paul’s preaching of the “gospel of God” in Acts 17, verse 3 had been believed, and after Timothy’s preaching of the “gospel of Christ” in First Thessalonians 3 verses 2, through 7,  after both had been believed to establish them.

So by Acts 18, when Paul wrote First Thessalonians, Paul knew the facts that he wrote about in First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, and 7, that the Thessalonians had believed Timothy about the "gospel of Christ", when Paul had sent him four verses earlier, in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, and 2, and had been saved by the "gospel of Christ" in First Thessalonians 3, NOT in First Thessalonians 2 or 1, or in Acts 17, verses 1-10. 

In other words, when Paul first sat down to start writing First Thessalonians 1, verse 1, and verse 5, he already knew that the Thessalonians had believed, not only the “gospel of God” preached by Paul, but also "our gospel", the "gospel of Christ" preached to them by Timothy under Paul's direction, "fellowlabouring", and sending in First Thessalonians 3:1-7.

Part 8, #20.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #20
“DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD” NOT MENTIONED BEFORE ACTS 20.

Let us look at some verses that Paul wrote to saved people in Thessalonica. 

2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,  
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, 
brethren beloved of the Lord, 
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
through sanctification of the Spirit 
and belief of the truth:
2 Thessalonians 2, verse 14,  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, 
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice that Paul said “from the beginning”, NOT “from the beginning of the dispensation of the grace of God”. Paul  DID  say "from the beginning" meaning Ephesians 1, verses 4, and 18, and Romans 8, verses 29, and 30.

Ephesians 1, verse 4,   According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love…. 
Ephesians 1, verse 18,  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,  
Romans 8, verse 29,  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Romans 8, verse 30,  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Again, God did the calling, not Paul, or Paul's gospel. God called them by Paul's (our) gospel. 

The “gospel of God” does NOT put anyone in the kingdom, nor does it put anyone in heavenly places. It identifies who Jesus is so that they were enabled to choose to believe the "gospel of the kingdom", or the "gospel of Christ", whichever gospel they heard and believed at that time. Let me repeat, it was "AT THAT TIME", during a dispensation of the gospel of Christ before Israel's diminishing ended in Acts 28, verses 25, through 29. 
(First Corinthians 3:5-8, 7:17-20).

Part 8, #21

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #21
THERE IS NO SALVATION IN THE “GOSPEL OF GOD” ALONE.

There is NO salvation in the “gospel of God”. Read it and see in Romans 1, verses 1, through 4. 

Romans 1:1 Paul, 
a servant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, 
separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised afore 
by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Romans 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, 
according to the spirit of holiness, 
by the resurrection from the dead:

Nothing in the “gospel of God” promises “thou shalt be saved”, or, “to life everlasting”. 
It enables the gospel of salvation in the “mystery of Christ”, but the “gospel of God” alone does not save anyone. 

There are no verses saying that Paul preached the “gospel of Christ” salvation in Thessalonica before Timothy was sent in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, and 2. In First Thessalonians , Paul tells that the Thessalonians got saved, but Paul does not say it was his Acts 17 preaching that saved them. 

In First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, and 7, Paul was relieved to hear that they did exercise faith in the “gospel of Christ” that Timothy preached to them in First Thessalonians 3, verse 2.  Paul was relieved.  He knew of their faith in the “gospel of God”, but he had not previously known of their faith in the “gospel of Christ” for salvation. 

Some people try to say Paul described his salvation gospel as the good news of God, “gospel of God”.  But that contradicts what Paul wrote and preached. They try to relabel the Old Testament prophecies about God's redemption, as the “gospel of God”. But the “gospel of God” is nowhere titled, as such, in the Old Testament. For definition or description of the “gospel of God”, we have to go to New Testament statements about the “gospel of God”. 

They are trying to relabel the “gospel of the grace of God” as the “gospel of God”, so as to ignore First Thessalonians 2, verses 2, 8, and 9, about the “gospel of God” being what Paul had been able to preach in Thessalonica in Acts 17, verses 1, through 10, before he was expelled from the town.

Part 8, #22.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #22
THE GOSPEL OF GOD IS MORE SPECIFIC THAN MERE PROPHECIES.

Paul’s gospel of Christ is never described as a progressive continuation of the gospel of God. That is merely a private interpretation used by some people to keep the theory that it was Paul that preached the salvation message in Thessalonica, instead of them hearing it later, for the first time from Timothy in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, through 7. 

Paul was NOT SENT to preach to all men before Acts 20, whether he preached to all types of men, or not is irrelevant. (Acts 20:24, Ephesians 3:8). Paul separates his early and his late gospels. Paul's gospel is the gospel of Christ/ gospel of the grace of God.  

Paul's gospel is NOT the capstone of progressive revelation. It is NOT the final installment of progressive revelation.  It is NOT just further information in the previous program. It is new revelation of a new way of dispensing God's salvation to mankind.  The gospel of the grace of God is a continuation of the gospel of Christ, but NOT a continuation of the gospel of God. The continuation of God's progressive revelation is going to be Israel's kingdom out of heaven in the future.

Part 8, #23.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #23.
GOSPEL OF GOD BEFORE GOSPEL OF CHRIST BEFORE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

There are some people that try to say that “my gospel” was limited to the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD in the DISPENSATION OF GRACE OF GOD. But, as soon as you start talking to them about the Biblical usage of the “gospel of Christ, they try to change the topic to the “gospel of the grace of God”. It is as if they are trying to ignore the “gospel of Christ”.

Paul did not preach  a prophesied gospel for salvation. However, Paul did preach a prophesied gospel, just not FOR SALVATION. Paul did not preach more than one gospel for salvation.  However, Paul did preach more than one gospel message, just not more than one gospel message FOR SALVATION. Paul preached the “gospel of God” (Romans 1:1-4, Acts 9:20,22,27, Acts 17:2-3, First Thessalonians 2:2,8,9). Paul preached the “gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16, 2:16, 15:29, 16:25, First Corinthians 9:18, Second Corinthians 10:14, Second Timothy 2:8-10). Paul preached the “gospel of the uncircumcision” (Galatians 2:7). Paul preached the “gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24, Ephesians 3:8, Colossians 1:3-6).

Part 8, #24.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #24.
I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

Romans 1, verse 16, is still in my King James Bible. 

Romans 1, verse 16,  For I am NOT ASHAMED of the gospel of Christ: 
for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth; 
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

"To the Jew first, and also to the Greek" does NOT mean "to all men".  That came later in scripture.

Part 8, #25.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #25.
WHEN THE GOSPEL OF OUR SALVATION BEGAN.

Some people misunderstand what we Bible believers say that the Bible teaches. They seem to think we are saying that Paul did NOT preach the mystery of salvation until Acts 18, verse 22.  But no, that was just Christ revealing His future, wider SENDING of Paul. Paul's salvation gospel began with his salvation in Acts 9, and Paul’s preaching of Christ’s salvation pattern was first recorded no earlier than Acts 13, verse 14.

Part 8, #26.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #26.
GOSPEL OF CHRIST BEFORE THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

The earliest inspired writing that I can find naming the “gospel of Christ” is: 

Galatians 1, verse 6,  I marvel that ye are so soon removed 
from him that called you into the grace of Christ 
unto another gospel:  
Galatians 1, verse 7,  Which is not another; 
but there be some that trouble you, 
and would pervert the GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 

That would be the same gospel that Paul referred to in Galatians 2, verse 7, as occurring in the Acts 15 clarification meeting of those from the two groups of churches. There, Paul called “his gospel” “the gospel of the uncircumcision”. 

Galatians 2, verse 7,  But contrariwise, when they saw that 
the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as 
the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

The earliest inspired writing that I can find naming the “gospel of the grace of God” is: 

Acts 20, verse 24,  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.  
Acts 20, verse 25,  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.  

The Galatians 1, verses 6 and 7 “gospel of Christ” appears in the Acts 15 time period, before the later “gospel of the grace of God” appears in Acts 20. They are in a series, one after the other, rather than being parallel gospels at the same time. Both of those gospels are within the one “body of Christ”.

Part 9, #27.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #27
THESSALONICA UNDER A MICROSCOPE

We are going to put Thessalonica under a microscope using a list a verses specifically from First Thessalonians and Acts. In the Bible, the Lord has uniquely done that for us with Thessalonica.  We will go through this list of verses, comparing these spiritual scriptures with spiritual. I hope our focus will be brought onto things that we may have overlooked before. I know that I saw things I had not seen before. 

We will read in two places with comments: Acts chapter 17, and First Thessalonians chapters 2, and 3. Let’s start in Acts chapter 17, verse 1.

Acts 17:1  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, 
they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Acts 17:2  And Paul, as his manner was, 
went in unto them, 
and three sabbath days 
reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Acts 17:3  Opening and alleging, 
that Christ must needs have suffered, 
and risen again from the dead; 
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Acts 17:4  And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.

We see in Acts 17, verse 2, it says Paul “reasoned with them out of the scriptures”. Often people may come to you and say, “let’s reason about the Bible”.  What they usually mean by that is to  is argue against what is written in the Bible.  They say, “Well, he didn’t mean that. What he really meant is this.” 

When Paul used that term “reasoning”, he went on to define it. In Acts 17, verse 3, Paul defines “reasoning” as “opening and alleging”, opening the word of God and claiming what it means. Paul used the word of God to confirm and explain the word of God. 

 Hebrews 6:13  For when God made promise to Abraham, 
because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

That is what Paul did.  He used what God had said as the greatest possible proof. And, what was it that Paul showed them from the open scriptures?  Paul shows from the scriptures the identity of Jesus Christ. 

“Christ must needs have suffered, and 
risen again from the dead; and that 
this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.” 

Jesus Christ is the resurrected Messiah.

That is the “gospel of God”. You can line up Romans 1, verses 3, and 4, with Acts 17, verse 3, and they are almost identical. And, Romans 1, verse 1 names verses 3, and 4, are the “gospel of God”. Paul was saying that he presented to them the “gospel of God”, who Jesus is, the identity of Jesus. Before Paul told them anything about who needs to be saved, or how to be saved, or what is the gospel of salvation, he made sure they knew and believed who Jesus is.

Acts 17, verse 4, says that 

“some of them believed, and 
consorted with Paul”. 

He would not DUMP them.  He would start MEETINGS with them. That was what Christ sent him to do in First Corinthians 9, verses 12, and 16, through 18.  

1 Corinthians 9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; 
but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
1 Corinthians 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: 
for necessity is laid upon me; 
yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
1 Corinthians 9:17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: 
but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.
1 Corinthians 9:18 What is my reward then? 
Verily that, when I preach the gospel, 
I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, 
that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

Paul was commissioned to dispense to the Jews and Greeks the “gospel of Christ” in a dispensation of the gospel. They consorted together with Paul. They would meet together with Paul, in Paul’s meetings, according to Acts 17, verse 17. As we will see, not only did some believe, 

Acts 17:5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

“the Jews which believed not, moved with envy” … 
“set all the city on an uproar”. 

We find out as we go through this microscope process that Paul had to commit those believers’ meetings to Timothy to establish because Paul was forced out of Thessalonica.

That was not the end of it. God had a plan to put that whole Thessalonica situation in slow motion so that, as if through a microscope, we could see what actually happened in those synagogues when Paul would come to a town such as Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, or Ephesus, or wherever he went in that dispensing of the gospel.

Let’s go on to some other verses that tell what happened next.  When we were reading in Acts 17, verses 1, through 4, Paul was in Thessalonica. We will look next at what Paul later wrote back to the Thessalonians in the Acts 18 time period. By this time, Paul had learned about most of the things that he normally would have found out if he had been able to stay there in Thessalonica.

1 Thessalonians 2:1  For yourselves, brethren, 
know our entrance in unto you, 
that it was not in vain:
1 Thessalonians 2:2  But even after that we had suffered before, 
and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi,

Do you remember the phrase, and the incident: “the Philippian jailor”? Paul and Silas had been thrown into jail in Philippi. They were shamefully entreated at Philippi.

1 Thessalonians 2:2  But even after that we had suffered before, 
and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, 
we were bold in our God to speak UNTO YOU 
the gospel of God with much contention.

So, there in Thessalonica, there was much contention. There was the tribulation of suffering that he was willing to go through to preach the “gospel of God” that he was still separated unto in a dispensation of the “gospel of Christ”.  Nevertheless, Paul was faithful to speak unto them the “gospel of God”, the Bible facts about who Jesus is. Speaking it boldly, in spite of much contention, Paul would certainly know and report exactly the right name of the gospel he preached there at that time. Paul preached the name, or identity of Jesus, that He is the Messiah, resurrected from the dead.

1 Thessalonians 2:3  For our exhortation …

To exhort is to call near, or to urge compliance. So exhortation is calling them near to the truth, to abide by the truth, to believe the truth, calling them into action.

1 Thessalonians 2:3  For our exhortation was not of deceit, 
nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
1 Thessalonians 2:4  But as we were allowed of God 
to be put in trust with the gospel, 

And, that is the gospel that Paul has been talking about here, the “gospel of God”. He hasn’t jumped ahead.

1 Thessalonians 2:4  But as we were allowed of God 
to be put in trust with the gospel, 
even so we speak; not as pleasing men, 
but God, which trieth our hearts.

That is good for us all to keep in mind, 
to please God, not men.
Paul was put in trust with the gospel. That is 

Romans 1, verse 1, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, 
separated unto the gospel of God”,

1 Thessalonians 2:5  For neither at any time 
used we flattering words, as ye know, 
nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:

A cloke of covetousness would be covering up the fact that we want your money.

1 Thessalonians 2:6  Nor of men sought we glory, 
neither of you, nor yet of others, 
when we might have been burdensome, 
as the apostles of Christ.

Who is Paul talking about as the plural apostles of Christ. Take a look at the first verse in First Thessalonians. 

1 Thessalonians 1:1  Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, 
unto the church of the Thessalonians 
which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: 
Grace be unto you, and peace, 
from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, Paul was talking about himself, Timotheus, and Silvanus as apostles of Christ. Neither Silvanus, nor Timotheus were designated by Christ as apostle of the Gentiles. Only Paul was the singular, “THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES”, and we have his inspired scripture that we follow today, because Paul is our apostle. Silvanus and Timotheus were sent out ones, apostles in a more generic sense. They were sent with Paul on this apostolic trip. They had responsibility. They were going out, preaching the gospel, making people aware of the “gospel of God”, and then, the “gospel of Christ”.

Part 10, still #27.

1 Thessalonians 2:7  But we were gentle among you, 
even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

Paul was going through contention, tribulation, and suffering to get the “gospel of God” to them. And yet, he was gentle among them, as a nurse cherisheth her children, not on his last good nerve.

1 Thessalonians 2:8  So being affectionately desirous of you, 
we were willing to have imparted unto you, 
not the gospel of God only …

Right away, when you hear Paul telling of a sequence that follows the “gospel of God”, you start thinking that Paul might be going to say “not the “gospel of God” only, but next, we imparted to you, the “gospel of Christ” about how to be saved”. Yes, that was the next step in Paul’s manner, his mode of operation.  But in this context, I don’t think that is what Paul is leading into. I think here, Paul is talking about the affliction he went through to get the gospel to us. 

1 Thessalonians 2:8  So being affectionately desirous of you, 
we were willing to have imparted unto you, 
not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, 
because ye were dear unto us.
1 Thessalonians 2:9  For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: 
for labouring night and day, 
because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, 
we preached unto you the gospel of God.

By this time, Paul has still not yet reported to the Thessalonians beyond the “gospel of God”, those same facts about who Jesus is, that He is the Messiah, resurrected from the dead.

Let’s see what happened next.  For that, we need to go back to Acts 17, verses 5, through 16. Here we see Paul’s report of the affliction, tribulation, and suffering he went through.

Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, 
and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.

It is notable that there was a great multitude that believed.

Acts 17:5  But the Jews which believed not

Here, just like in Acts 14, verses 1,and 2, you can see four categories of people: Jews that believed, Jews that did NOT believe, Gentiles that believed (often called Greeks), and Gentiles that did NOT believe (aliens that have their own gods in Ephesians 2, verse 12, chapter 4, verse 18, and Colossians 1, verse 21).

Acts 17:5  But the Jews which believed not, 
moved with envy, 
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, 
and gathered a company, 
and set all the city on an uproar, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, 
and sought to bring them out to the people.

Can you imagine the contention and the suffering of affliction?

Acts 17:6  And when they found them not, 
they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, 
crying, These that have turned the world upside down 
are come hither also;

The believing little flock had already made an impact and reputation. People knew about them.

Acts 17:7  Whom Jason hath received: 
and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, 
saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

You can see that they are trying to couch their words to get the government on their side.

Acts 17:8  And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, 
when they heard these things.
Acts 17:9  And when they had taken security of Jason, 
and of the other, they let them go.
Acts 17:10  And the brethren immediately 
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: 

Being at night, it was being done covertly.

Acts 17:10  And the brethren immediately 
sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: 
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

They did not have the privilege to indulge any shyness. They were doing hard-to-do things, things that the Lord wants them to do, and they stepped out, and they did it.

You and I would have trouble doing those things but knowing that the Lord wants us to do whatever He has said for us to do, we too, would step out and do it. 

By the way, there are things that we are to do:  love others, especially believers, be edified by studying the word of God, commit Paul’s teachings to faithful men, things like that.  We that have believed by grace through faith need to get to doing.

Acts 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, 
in that they RECEIVED THE WORD 
with all readiness of mind, 

Please observe the distinction between “openness of mind”, being willing to accept anything, and “readiness of mind” being willing to challenge their own preconceived ideas with the truth, not with somebody else’s Idea, but with the truth. 

Acts 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, 
in that they RECEIVED THE WORD 
with all readiness of mind, 
and searched the scriptures daily, 
whether those things were so.

Some people have commented, complained, and argued that: “well, if they searched the scriptures, then it wasn’t a mystery. But there was a previously unrevealed gospel and program that God had, that He did reveal to Paul.  It had been a mystery.  But this is NOT that mystery. This was in the Old Testament. Paul was still teaching the “gospel of God”. 

Try to remember before the Lord went to the cross, when He gathered His apostles at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16, verse 13, and He said to them, 

“Who do men say that I the Son of man am?” 

Then He said, 

“But whom say ye that I am?” 

And Peter said, 

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. 

Saying He is the Christ, professes the Messiahship and the Sonship of Jesus.  Then, five verses later, the Lord added the other element, that He would 

“be raised again the third day”. 

Christ’s resurrection is the other part of the “gospel of God”.

So, the facts about Jesus were there.  They were in Psalms 2, Psalms 16, Psalms 110,  Isaiah 7, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 53,  Isaiah 60, and 61. They were found many places in the scriptures.  They were foretold. These facts were prophesied. But, not the mystery part about those facts. Before Christ revealed the mystery to Paul, it was unknown that you would be saved by believing that Christ died for your sins. That part was mystery, untold, and unknown before the revelation of the mystery to Paul. That was and is the only way an unforgivable person could be saved.

Next, we will see what was going on in Paul’s trip to Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. We are trying to find out, from these two sources, what was the sequence of events, and what was Paul’s mode of operation. We are comparing First Thessalonians 2 and 3 with Acts 17.

Acts 17:12  Therefore many of them believed; 
also of honourable women which were Greeks, 
and of men, not a few.

So, those Berea Jews and Greeks 

“searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” 

that Paul was preaching about the “gospel of God”. It says that they believed, so they must have found that they were so. What does it say that they believed then? Did they believe the mystery “gospel of Christ” crucified for their sins? 

If they searched the scriptures to find it, and then believed it, then what they were searching for was what Paul had already preached, the scriptural facts about who Jesus is, the “gospel of God”, NOT the mystery. They searched, found, and believed that Jesus is the resurrected Messiah. 

So, when it says here in Acts 17, verse 12, that many of them believed, don’t say or think “great, we had a lot of people come into the “body of Christ” then.  They were NOT in the “body of Christ” yet. They were believers that Jesus is the Messian, resurrected from the dead. That alone does NOT save anybody. That is believing the name of Jesus.

Part 11, still #27.

Acts 17:13  But when the Jews of Thessalonica … 

The JEWS of THESSALONICA…. There they are again. Trouble makers aren’t they?  Or, at least, trying to be.

Acts 17:13  But when the Jews of Thessalonica 
had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, 
they came thither also, 
and stirred up the people.
Acts 17:14  And then immediately the brethren 
sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea … 

That sounds a little surreptitious, doesn’t it, a little covert. In other words, look like you are going down to the docks. 

Acts 17:14  And then immediately the brethren 
sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: 
but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

So, now we come to the next verse, Acts 17, verse 15, and there is also something strange about the way this verse is written.

Acts 17:15  And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: … 

That Acts 17, verse 15 statement ends with a colon.  It is as if Paul had said, they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens, and here is how that Athens trip happened. It’s as if they report that the entire trip will end in Athens, but that they did not leave Berea yet for Athens.

That is very similar to what Luke said in describing Paul’s trip to Jerusalem in Acts 18, verses 18, through 22. In Acts 18, verse 18, Luke said that Paul … 

“took his leave of the brethren and sailed thence into Syria.” 

Was Paul then in Syria after that statement? Paul was going to go through Syria to get to Jerusalem. But then in the next verse, Acts 18, verse 19, you see that Paul made stops along the way before he got to Syria, at least in Ephesus, before he was actually in Syria or Jerusalem.

In Acts 17, verse 15, Paul was preparing to leave Berea, going to Athens. Berea is north of Athens near the coast of the Aegean Sea. Since Paul was avoiding those docks, he apparently was going to go to Athens on a land route being led by “they that conducted Paul”. 

Acts 17:15  And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: 
and receiving a commandment 
unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, 
they departed.

Did hear that? After all that description, they just then departed from Berea. Before any of them had actually left Berea, Paul gave the command for 

“they that conducted” 

him to give to Timothy before any of them had actually left Berea. All three of Paul, Silas, and Timothy were leaving Berea, and all three were meeting next in Athens. But, Paul would get there first, and the route that Silas and Timothy took would include fulfilling the command in First Thessalonians 3, verse 2. 

1 Thessalonians 3:2  And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:

Acts 17:15 “They that conducted Paul …  
receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus 
for to come to him with all speed”. 

The command was to Silas and Timothy. In that group, who was in a position to give commands?  PAUL! Paul gave a command to those who conducted him for them to give to Silas and Timothy telling Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed. 

They were all starting from Berea, and they were all going to Athens, so why wouldn’t Silas and Timothy be traveling side by side with Paul on the route from Berea to Athens?  And, why did Paul have to tell them to hurry up, and he would wait for them at Athens? 

Timothy had been given a responsibility to accomplish before meeting Paul at Athens. So, Timothy had somewhere else he had to go before arriving at Athens. Let us preview that charge that Paul gave Timothy in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, and 2.

1 Thessalonians 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, 
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1 Thessalonians 3:2  And SENT Timotheus, 
our brother, 
and minister of God, 
and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish you, and to comfort you 
concerning your faith:

So, after giving that command, Paul was led to Athens by they that conducted Paul. They departed.

By the way, the Bible said nothing about the doctrine of those who conducted Paul in Acts 17, verse 15, but they had to be trustworthy. They could well have been some of those who were is Christ, the Vine, before Paul was in Christ, the body of Christ. That gives confirming proof to disarm people who claim that God misspoke by calling those “in Christ”, who were in Christ, the Vine, (calling them) the same as those who are “in Christ”, being in the body of Christ. They are not in the same group and so God gave the groups different names.  Israel and the little flock are never said to be in a body.

Acts 17:16  Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, 
his spirit was stirred in him, 
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

Now, we will go to the time period of Acts 18, when Paul wrote First Thessalonians, to see Paul’s comments as he looks back at those situations in Acts 17. By the time that Paul had started writing First Thessalonians 1, verse 1, he had already learned the things that Paul talks about throughout the epistle, the information of what had happened and had been reported to him that he wrote about as late as in First Thessalonians, chapter 5. Especially, he knew about the Thessalonians reception of Timothy’s ministering to them the “gospel of Christ” crucified for our sins. Paul knew about their response of faith to the salvation gospel that Timothy went back to preach to them.

Let’s go on to First Thessalonians 2, verse 13, through 18. 

1 Thessalonians 2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, 
because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, 
ye received it not as the word of men, 
but as it is in truth, the word of God, 
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

There is a great principle to remember, whether you are in this study, or in another study.  If you are saved and want to grow, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, receiving the word of God causes it to work effectually in you as you believe it, as it was written, and as applying to whom it was written.

1 Thessalonians 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers ….

When Paul wrote First Thessalonians 2, verse 14, he already knew what happened in First Thessalonians chapter 3, that they received the gospel of Christ for salvation with Christ as their only Saviour. You can see a hint of it here. Paul said that 

“ye received … the word of God … 
which effectually worketh also in you that believe”. 

They were believers, but he would not have known that until he got the information he received in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, through 7.

1 Thessalonians 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of 
the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus …. 

Now, don’t get thrown here as some people do. The “churches of God” were the scattered “little flock”. Paul is NOT saying that you became part of the little flock. He’s NOT saying that. Yes, the churches of God were in Christ Jesus. But, as we showed before, they were in Christ, the Vine of John 15. They were NOT in the body of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of 
the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: 
for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, 
even as they have of the Jews:

This is the manner in which they were followers of the churches of God in Judaea which are in Christ Jesus. 

“Ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, 
even as they have of the Jews”. 

You see, its two parallel situations there. Paul was saying that the Jews, the little flock in Judaea suffered of the disbelieving Jews in Judaea.  LIKEWISE, you believers suffered like-type things from your own countrymen which would have been those disbelieving Jews and all the city around Thessalonica,  according to Acts 17, verse 5.  So, don’t let that throw you. 

Part 12, still #27.

With all that in mind, let us read again First Thessalonians 2, verse 14.

1 Thessalonians 2:14  For ye, brethren, became followers of 
the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: 
for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, 
even as they have of the Jews:
1 Thessalonians 2:15  Who both killed the Lord Jesus, 
and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; 
and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

That is a pretty heavy statement. But, that is what they were. That was the disbelieving Jew’s last generation of rebels before being cast away at the end of Acts. Paul goes on to elucidate on some of what he meant by that heavy statement: 

1 Thessalonians 2:16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles 
that they might be saved …. 

Well, what Gentiles were there in Thessalonica, in the synagogue, that the unbelieving Jews forbade Paul to speak the “gospel of Christ” to that they might be saved?  They tried to prevent Paul from preaching further to those Greeks in the synagogue in Acts 17, verses 4, through 10. Those Greeks were the only Gentiles in this context that the Jews forbade Paul from preaching to. 

Acts 17:4  And some of them 
believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.

In Acts 17, verse 5, the disbelieving Jews in Thessalonica’s synagogue DID forbid Paul from speaking the “gospel of Christ” to the Gentiles who were the Greeks, as well as to anyone else there.

Acts 17:5  But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, 
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, 
and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, 
and sought to bring them out to the people.

Some people try to twist or over apply the wording, in order to maintain their own opinions.  

1 Thessalonians 2:16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles 
that they might be saved …. 

At first reading, and if you expect it to mean “to all the Gentiles”, you would hear it as saying “to all the Gentiles”, when all it says is “to the Gentiles”, meaning “the Gentiles already in the account”. If you expect Paul to be going to all the Gentiles this early, even without any sending yet to the “far off” Gentiles, then to you, it would sound like the whole world was the target audience. But that is NOT what it says or means. Paul was talking about the Gentiles that were present in that synagogue that we read about in Acts 17, verses 4, through 10. Paul was NOT implying that Christ had already SENT him to preach salvation ALL people.

Acts 17:4  And some of them 
believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of THE DEVOUT GREEKS a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.

Those Gentiles would have all been Greeks, NOT Greeks by nationality, but seekers, like the Greek empire was known for. They would have been Gentiles seekers, seeking the wisdom and knowledge of God, coming into the places where the wisdom and knowledge of God was kept as the SCRIPTURES, in the synagogues.

Those seeker Gentiles, called Greeks, came to the synagogues to hear the scriptures and learned of God’s covenants with Israel, and so they blessed Israel as the scriptures said to do, by being there, and by bringing their tithes to the synagogues.

That is how the Greeks got to hear Paul first, along with the Jews. Paul went to the synagogues as he said Christ SENT him to do,

“to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” 

Romans 1:16  ¶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 
for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth; 
TO THE JEW FIRST, AND ALSO TO THE GREEK.

He went to the synagogues where the scriptures were kept, and he preached the “gospel of God” from those scriptures. Three times in First Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul clarified in verses 2, and 8, and 9, that he had preached the “gospel of God” to them. Paul identified that Jesus is the resurrected Messiah.

In Thessalonica, Paul suffered things to get the gospel to the Gentiles, as the churches of God in Judaea did. They forbade Paul, and tried to keep him from speaking to the Gentiles in the synagogue in Thessalonica after a great multitude of the Greeks believed the “gospel of God” in Acts 17, verse 4. 

Acts 17:4  And some of them 
believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.
Acts 17:5  But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, 
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, 
and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, 
and sought to bring them out to the people.

That is one place that the Greeks showed up. There they were. What was there duty? Why are the Greeks being singled out as being preached to? According to Romans 11, verse 11, it is so that they will provoke Israel to jealousy. “I want what they’ve got.”  Those believing Paul’s “gospel of Christ” get forgiveness now. They get life now.  They don’t have to wait, and endure to the end to be saved, like Israel does. 

As Paul would go from synagogue to synagogue, those that believed the foundational “gospel of God” that Paul preached, about who Jesus is, (they) consorted with Paul, meeting with him to hear Paul preach the “gospel of Christ” about what Christ did for them. And, they could be saved by believing that Christ died for their sins. That is what was according to the scriptures in 

1 Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, 
how that Christ died for our sins 
ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES;
1 Corinthians 15:4  And that 
he was buried, and that 
he rose again the third day 
ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES:

It was written in Isaiah that Christ would DIE FOR ISRAEL’S SINS. But, it did NOT say how Israel could appropriate that. 

Isaiah 53:8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: 
and who shall declare his generation? 
for HE WAS CUT OFF OUT of the land of the living: 
for the transgression OF MY PEOPLE was he stricken.
Isaiah 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, 
and shall be satisfied: 
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; 
for HE SHALL BEAR THEIR INIQUITIES.

Israel’s Isaiah 53 prophecy did NOT say how Israel could appropriate that iniquity bearing. It didn’t say, believe on the coming Righteous Servant’s sacrifice to be forgiven and saved. It said that His sin offering would redeem them, but how? What was Israel’s part? They had to keep the covenants, and the commandments, and the circumcision, and the Sabbath, and all those things.  That was Israel’s lot. 

That is why, AT THAT TIME, it was “ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES” that Christ would die for Israel’s sins.

Paul wrote First Corinthians “unto the church of God which is at Corinth”. According to Galatians 1, verse 13, the church of God was in existence and functioning in Acts 9, verse 1, before Paul was saved as the first member of the body of Christ in Acts 9, verse 6.

Galatians 1:13  For ye have heard of 
my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, 
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, 
and wasted it:

So, “the church of God which is at Corinth” had the same standing as the little flock, kingdom church in Jerusalem which is also named the church of God 
	in Acts 20, verse 28, 
	in First Corinthians 11, verse 22, 
	in First Corinthians 15, verse 9,  
	in First Timothy 3, verse 5, and 
	in other places. 

That means that WHEN Paul wrote “Christ died for OUR sins”, “OUR” was Israel’s,  “OUR sins” was Israel’s sins. 

That did NOT limit the “gospel of Christ” for an alien Gentile to believe to be saved. But, it did limit Christ’s SENDING of Paul to be to the Jew first and also to the Greek, AND, that DID limit the alien Gentiles from HEARING the “gospel of Christ” in order to believe it and be saved. Alien Gentiles were limited in that way, until Christ extended Paul’s SENDING to all men in Acts 20, verse 6, according to Philippians 4, verse 15. The alien Gentiles were limited in that way, BUT, that was less limiting than before the gospel of Christ was known at all.

These people that Paul preached to were being saved differently than by Israel’s doctrine. It was a new pattern that Christ started with unforgivable Saul of Tarsus being saved on the road to Damascus.
	
Under the microscope of Thessalonica, that process got interrupted. Paul did not leave them in the lurch, so to speak. According to First Thessalonians 2, verse 18, Paul twice tried returning to Thessalonica, but Satan hindered him.  Instead of Paul immediately preaching salvation to those that believed the “gospel of God”, he was expelled from Thessalonica, and in First Thessalonians chapter 3, Paul had to send his “fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ”, Timothy, to minister to them the “gospel of Christ”, the gospel of salvation to establish them as we saw likely happened right there in Acts 17, verses 14, through 16.

It is quite interesting the way that this whole process in Thessalonica was stretched out over time to reveal to us what was the order of God. Paul’s mode of operation was to preach the “gospel of God”, and not yet to preach the “gospel of Christ”, the gospel of salvation, until people had first believed the “gospel of God”.

Now, we want to continue reading the First Thessalonians 2 passage at verse 16.

1 Thessalonians 2:16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles 
that they might be saved

It said “be saved”. That is not about the “gospel of God” is it? That is about the “gospel of Christ”, the gospel of salvation. 

1 Thessalonians 2:16  Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles 
that they might be saved, 
to fill up their sins alway: 
for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

So, those disbelieving Jews had past of point of being able to return.  Those Jews had passed up multiple mercies of God, chances to believe Paul and “Paul’s gospel”. Those Jews were being broken off Israel’s olive tree.

Next, let’s look in First Corinthians 7, verses 17, 18, and 20.

1 Corinthians 7:17  But as God hath distributed to every man, 
as the Lord hath called every one, 
so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
1 Corinthians 7:18  Is any man called being circumcised? 
let him not become uncircumcised. 
Is any called in uncircumcision? 
let him not be circumcised.
1 Corinthians 7:20  Let every man abide in the same calling 
wherein he was called.

That was only given for a dispensation of the gospel, not for our later dispensation. You can see there were some Jews and Greeks from the synagogue in Acts 18, verse 4, that had already heard the “gospel of the circumcision”, and as late as Acts 19, they were still being called into the “little flock”, the circumcision group in First Corinthians 7, verses 17, 18, and 20.  They were part of Israel’s prophetic remnant, even though the nation of Israel already had fallen, and even though Paul was already preaching the “gospel of Christ” to the Jews and Greeks. 

In the Bible, a remnant always refers to those few FROM ISRAEL that believe what God told them, while the majority of Israel, Jacob, was going astray. This prophetic remnant is referred to in Romans 11, verses 7, and 8.

Romans 11:7, and 11:8,  What then? 
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; 
but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 
(according as it is written, God hath given them 
the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and 
ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

Additionally, there were some gospel of God believing Jews and Greeks from Corinth’s synagogue in Acts 18, verse 4, that when they heard Paul preach the “gospel of the uncircumcision”, the “gospel of Christ”, they were being called into that uncircumcision group, the “body of Christ”. In Romans 11, verses 5, and 6, Paul referred to that grace remnant as Jew and Greek believers from Israel that chose, or elected, to receive God’s grace dispensed by Paul as the “gospel of Christ” at that time.

Romans 11:5, and 11:6,  Even so then at this present time also 
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. 
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

2 Thessalonians 2:14  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, 
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As late as Acts 19, when Paul wrote that Corinthian epistle, Paul was saying that those who had previously been called into the “little flock”, circumcision group could still receive and abide in that calling. But also, there was a grace remnant that God knew was being called into the “body of Christ” by Paul’s “gospel of Christ”. Look at these verses regarding God’s calling.

Romans 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: 
and whom he called, them he also justified: 
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
1 Corinthians 1:9  God is faithful, 
by whom ye were called unto 
the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Part 13, still #27.

Let’s continue reading at First Thessalonians 2, verse 17.

1 Thessalonians 2:17  But we, brethren, 
being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, 
endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.
1 Thessalonians 2:18  Wherefore we would have come unto you, 
even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
1 Thessalonians 2:19  For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? 
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
1 Thessalonians 2:20  For ye are our glory and joy.

As we get into First Thessalonians 3, let us be reminded that Paul did not write this epistle until all these events had happened.  He was telling what happened being fully aware of the comforting and joyful outcome. What Paul is going to report here in chapter 3, he knew back in chapter 2 when he wrote three times about preaching the “gospel of God” to them, and going through the conflict and the contention. 

1 Thessalonians 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, 
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;

That was when Paul got sent away from Berea, surreptitiously to escape the rogue Jews coming from Thessalonica. They made it look like he was going down to the docks, but instead they that conducted Paul brought him to Athens, apparently by land.

1 Thessalonians 3:2  And sent Timotheus, 
our brother, and 
minister of God, and 
our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ …

Underline that. Underline 

“our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ” … 

That is why Paul sent Timothy to Thessalonica. Timothy was Paul’s fellowlabourer in the “gospel of Christ”. Timothy was sent out to Thessalonica to minister unto them the “gospel of Christ”, “my gospel”, to establish them.

1 Thessalonians 3:2  And sent Timotheus, 
our brother, and 
minister of God, and 
our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish you …

Paul knew that when he sent Timothy to minister the “gospel of Christ” to them, that it would establish those who believe. It will make them stable, sealed in Christ.

Just knowing that Jesus is the risen Messiah, as Paul was able to preach there, does not establish you. It is the foundation upon which the “gospel of Christ” is preached. It is the foundation upon which the body of Christ is built. That is a reason why Paul always preached the “gospel of God” first, and then the “gospel of Christ”.

1 Thessalonians 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, 
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1 Thessalonians 3:2  And sent Timotheus, 
our brother, and 
minister of God, and 
our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish you, and 
to comfort you concerning your faith:

Paul said “concerning your FAITH”….  Do you have FAITH in this, or not. Paul was concerned about them, he was uncomfortable because he had to leave Thessalonica having preached to them the “gospel of God” about who Jesus is, but had NOT had the chance to give them the “gospel of Christ” about what Christ did to save them. They did NOT know yet. They were positive. They did believe the “gospel of God”. But Paul was eager to hear their response to the “gospel of Christ” that he sent his fellowlabourer Timothy, to minister to them.

1 Thessalonians 3:3  That no man should be moved by these afflictions …

Paul was writing back and saying, “They treated me terribly, and they are treating you terribly.” Remember Jason who got beaten and dragged before the officials?  

1 Thessalonians 3:3  That no man should be moved by these afflictions: 
for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
1 Thessalonians 3:4  For verily, when we were with you, 
we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; 
even as it came to pass, and ye know.

Now, don’t get thrown off course here either. Paul said, “we should suffer tribulation”. I thought we were delivered from the tribulation. 

The tribulation Paul was talking about there, he said “even as it came to pass”. It was already PASSED, had already occurred. It was the tribulation that those unbelieving Jews gave him, and was giving to the “gospel of God” believing Thessalonians. They were rebel rousing the whole city, and suborning those lewd fellows of the baser sort, and all that tribulation that Satan was behind.

1 Thessalonians 3:4  For verily, when we were with you, 
we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; 
even as it came to pass, and ye know.
1 Thessalonians 3:5  For this cause,

Now, we are getting right down to the point of all this. If you have been sleeping, or day dreaming, or double dipping, LISTEN UP! This is it.

1 Thessalonians 3:5  For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, 
I sent to know your faith

In other words, Paul was saying, “I was very eager to hear about your FAITH”. "I just can't hardly wait to hear about your FAITH". Their FAITH was what Paul was so concerned about back there in verse 2. 

1 Thessalonians 3:5  For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, 
I sent to know your faith, 
lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, 
and our labour be in vain.

In other words, they were NOT secure yet. They were NOT saved yet. They were NOT sealed yet by the “gospel of God” that they heard and believed in Thessalonica. 

They had needed to hear and believe the gospel of salvation, the “gospel of Christ”, that Christ died for their sins, that He was buried, and that He was resurrected the third day. But those are merely the facts of that mystery gospel of what Christ did to make salvation available to us. But, our part is in the two verses before that, that you individually have to receive it to your own condition as a sinner in need to be saved. That is how it says that we can appropriate this salvation for our own need. Let’s look at those salvation verses in: 

1 Corinthians 15:1  Moreover, brethren, 
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, 
which also ye have received, 
and wherein ye stand;
1 Corinthians 15:2  By which also ye are saved, 
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, 
unless ye have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, 
how that Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4  And that he was buried, 
and that he rose again the third day 
according to the scriptures:

Twice in those four verses there, it mentions to RECEIVE it, that Paul RECEIVED it, and that that is what they were to do, to RECEIVE it.

1 Thessalonians 3:6  But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of your FAITH and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7  Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you 
in all our affliction and distress 
by your FAITH:

That is the heart of the matter. That is what it was all about, THEIR FAITH. Paul had to find out whether they BELIEVED or not. Paul was quite concerned that he had to leave them with the good news about who Jesus is, but did NOT tell them how to be saved.

Part 14, still #27.

1 Thessalonians 3:7  Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you 
in all our affliction and distress 
by your FAITH:
1 Thessalonians 3:8  For now we live, 
if ye stand fast in the Lord.

And they do.  They do stand fast in the Lord. Paul had found out that they did have FAITH in the “gospel of Christ” that Timothy had ministered to them in verse 2. That is the point here.  That is why verse 8 is connected to verse 7 by a colon, and not by a period, because verse 7 and verse 8 go together. Now, we go on to verse 9.

1 Thessalonians 3:9  For what thanks can we render to God again for you, 
for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
1 Thessalonians 3:10  Night and day praying exceedingly 
that we might see your face, 
and might perfect that which is lacking in your FAITH?

Now what would that be? What would be lacking in their FAITH? By the time that Paul wrote that statement, he already knew that they are saved. So It is not about what is lacking in their position. They are saved. They are sealed. They are made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Christ is in them. They are no longer lacking in their position, but rather, in their FAITH. 

Faith is active.  It purposely leans and relies on the object of their faith. They had faith that God had saved them from condemnation. But they needed to know how to grow in their daily walk. That has to do with the other part of God’s will, 

“to come unto the KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH”. 

1 Timothy 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, 
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

They needed to be made aware of their new position in Christ, with all its benefits. That growth to completeness in faith is taught here in at least these six areas.

(1) STUDY THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE REVEALED MYSTERY OF JESUS CHRIST:
(2) HOLINESS:
(3) LOVE:
(4) EDIFY:
(5) KNOW AND ESTEEM THE WORKERS:
(6) HEAVENLY FUTURE.

 (1) STUDY THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE REVEALED MYSTERY OF JESUS CHRIST:
1 Thessalonians 3:10  Night and day praying exceedingly 
that we might see your face, and 
might PERFECT that which is lacking in your FAITH?
(Romans 16:25-26).

Saved people coming to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4),

Stablished by preaching Jesus Christ, and NOT just any preaching about Jesus Christ. Stablished by preaching Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the MYSTERY. (Romans 16:25-26).

Romans 16:25  Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to 
… the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, 
which was kept secret since the world began,
Romans 16:26  But now is made manifest ….

That excludes the preaching of Jesus Christ according to prophecy in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for the STABLISHING of believers in Paul’s gospel in this later dispensing of God’s grace. The preaching of Jesus Christ according to prophecy is the definition of what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is about according to:

Romans 15:8  Now I say that Jesus Christ was 
a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, 
to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

It is NOT that Jesus Christ should NOT be preached from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is just that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were NOT given to STABLISH believers in Paul’s gospel of Christ crucified for our sins. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were given to inform and strengthen Christ’s earthly followers who were looking for the kingdom from heaven that was only promised to Israel.

STABLISHING believers in Paul’s gospel was what God gave us Paul’s epistles for, to preach Jesus Christ according to the telling of the secret, the revelation of the mystery told ONLY IN PAUL’S EPISTLES. (Romans 16:25-26).

Romans 16:25  ¶Now to him that is of power to stablish you 
according to 
my gospel, 
and 
the preaching of Jesus Christ, 
according to the revelation of the mystery, 
which was kept secret since the world began,
Romans 16:26  But now is made manifest, 
and 
by the scriptures of the prophets, 
according to the commandment of the everlasting God, 
made known to all nations 
for the obedience of faith:

Receiving the word of God through frequent direct intake. (1 Thessalonians 2:13, Acts 20:32).

1 Thessalonians 2:13  ¶For this cause also 
thank we God without ceasing, because, 
when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, 
ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, 
the word of God, 
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Acts 20:32  And now, brethren, 
I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, 
which is able to build you up, 
and to give you an inheritance 
among all them which are sanctified.

Study the word of God. (2 Timothy 2:15).

2 Timothy 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, 
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of truth.

Rightly dividing. (2 Timothy 2:15).

Applying scripture to our daily walk. (Romans 6 and 7),

Mark and avoid deceivers contrary to Paul’s doctrine. (Romans 16:17-18).

Romans 16:17  ¶Now I beseech you, brethren, 
mark them which cause divisions and offences 
contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; 
and avoid them.
Romans 16:18  
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, 
but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches 
deceive the hearts of the simple.

(2) HOLINESS:
1 Thessalonians 4:7  For God hath not called us 
unto uncleanness, 
but unto HOLINESS.

Colossians 2:6  As ye have therefore 
received Christ Jesus the Lord, 
so walk ye in him:

(3) LOVE:
1 Thessalonians 4:9  But as touching brotherly LOVE 
ye need not that I write unto you: 
for ye yourselves are taught of God to LOVE one another.

1 Thessalonians 3:12  And the Lord make you to 
increase and abound in love one toward another, 
and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

(4) EDIFY:
1 Thessalonians 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, 
and EDIFY one another, even as also ye do.

Romans 14:19  Let us therefore follow after 
the things which make for peace, 
and things wherewith one may edify another.

Acts 20:32  And now, brethren, 
I commend you to God, and 
to the word of his grace, 
which is able to build you up, and 
to give you an inheritance 
among all them which are sanctified.

(5) KNOW AND ESTEEM THE WORKERS:
1 Thessalonians 5:12  And we beseech you, brethren, 
to know them which labour among you, 
and are over you in the Lord, 
and admonish you;
1 Thessalonians 5:13  And to esteem them very highly in love 
for their work's sake. 
And be at peace among yourselves.

Philippians 3:17  Brethren, be followers together of me, 
and mark them which walk so as 
ye have us for an ensample.

(6) Back in the text, we see our HEAVENLY FUTURE.

1 Thessalonians 3:10  Night and day praying exceedingly 
that we might see your face, 
and might PERFECT that which is lacking in your FAITH?
1 Thessalonians 3:11  Now God himself 
and our Father, 
and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
direct our way unto you.
1 Thessalonians 3:12  And the Lord make you to 
increase and abound in love one toward another, 
and toward all men, 
even as we do toward you:
1 Thessalonians 3:13  To the end he may stablish your hearts 
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Remember that “saints” are sanctified ones, set apart ones, not necessarily human. In fact, Matthew 25, verse 31, tells us that those saints are holy, or set apart angels that accompany Christ in His return to earth.

Matthew 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy ANGELS with him, 	
then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

(6) HEAVENLY FUTURE.
The sixth growth attribute that we will cover here in this passage is that by the time of the Lord’s return to earth, we will have already been caught up to be with the Lord unblameable in holiness.

Later, in Second Thessalonians 1, verses 6, and 7, Paul again confirms that by the time of seven years after the body of Christ is caught up to be with the Lord, we will be resting with Paul where the Lord and the body of Christ is, not fighting, not in tribulation, but RESTING.

2 Thessalonians 1:6  Seeing it is a righteous thing with God 
to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
2 Thessalonians 1:7  And to you who are troubled 
rest with us, 
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels

When the Lord is revealed with His mighty angels is NOT the catching up. Those in the body of Christ will have already been caught up, and it says they are at rest with Paul and the Lord, and the rest of the body of Christ, since we will have been caught up to “ever be with the Lord”. So, at the time of Christ’s second coming to earth, at least seven years after our catching up to heaven, we are going to be at rest with Paul and the other believers as “THE BODY OF CHRIST.”

Part 15, still #27.

Now that we have an understanding of what happened in Thessalonica, let’s go back and observe Paul’s greeting of encouragement, being, the first chapter of First Thessalonians. Much of this beginning chapter of this epistle is as you would expect it to be. Paul told whom it was from, to whom it was written, a greeting, and a brief outline of what the situation is, before he headed into the main part of the epistle. 

1 Thessalonians 1:1  Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, 
unto the church of the Thessalonians 
which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: 
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Although First Thessalonians was written in Acts 18, just briefly after Paul’s visit to Thessalonica in Acts 17, he addressed this epistle to the “church of the Thessalonians”, not to the synagogue of Thessalonica where he had visited and preached the “gospel of God”, and the believers CONSORTED with Paul, formed a group, a meeting. So when Paul wrote back to them, he wrote to that meeting of believers that CONSORTED together.

1 Thessalonians 1:2  We give thanks to God always for you all, 
making mention of you in our prayers;
1 Thessalonians 1:3  Remembering without ceasing 
your WORK OF FAITH, 
and LABOUR OF LOVE, 
and PATIENCE OF HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ, 
in the sight of God and our Father;

Paul  remembered those things in his prayers. He said “making mention of you in our prayers;
remembering without ceasing your WORK OF FAITH, and LABOUR OF LOVE, and PATIENCE OF HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ….” That means that when Paul prayed, he prayed about eternal things in the lives of the believers, not about temporal things regarding our flesh. Notice that he prayer about their faith, love, and hope. Aren’t faith, hope, and charity the three things that Paul was inspired to tell us will abide forever? They are eternal things, not temporal. Let’s keep that in mind as we place importance on prayer about our spiritual growth and especially about the spiritual growth of other believers that we pray for.

Notice also that for believers, each of those three characteristics entail some doing, some effort to achieve. They did not just have FAITH, but that faith produced a “WORK OF FAITH”.  They did not just have LOVE, but that love produced a “LABOUR OF LOVE”. They did not just have HOPE, but that hope produced a longsuffering, a “PATIENCE OF HOPE”.

We are saved by faith alone in the grace of God, without our works. But, after we are saved, we are in a flow-through relationship in which God’s character and will is made known on earth through the believer.

Titus 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and 
these things I will that thou affirm constantly, 
that they which have believed in God 
might be careful to maintain good works. 
These things are good and profitable unto men.

1 Thessalonians 1:4  Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

Remember that the dictionary says that a synonym for “TO ELECT” is “TO CHOOSE”. So “ELECTION” means “CHOICE”. So it is as if Paul was saying “Knowing, brethren beloved, your CHOICE of God.” And, the next two verses, verses 5, and 6, go on to describe the CHOICE that those Thessalonians had CHOSEN.

But, before reading First Thessalonians 1, verses 5, and 6, let’s review what we discovered about what Paul knew when he wrote his first epistle to the Thessalonians. When Paul sat down to start writing this epistle in Acts 18, he already had received back the comforting, joyful news from Timothy, that the “gospel of God” believing Thessalonians had now received the saving “gospel of Christ”. As he wrote, Paul was combining the events of his visit to Thessalonica in Acts 17, verses 1, through 8, with the events of Timothy’s mission/apostleship to Thessalonica that Paul later wrote about in the third chapter of this epistle.

1 Thessalonians 1:5  For our gospel came not unto you in word only, 
but also in power, 
and in the Holy Ghost, 
and in much assurance; 
as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
1 Thessalonians 1:6  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, 
having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:

“Our gospel” that Paul talked about in First Thessalonians 1, verse 5, is the answer to what they chose, or elected in verse 4. That gospel came to them in “power” to save, as Paul said that the gospel of Christ did in a dispensation of the gospel to the Jew first and also to the Greek in Romans 1, verse 16.

In First Corinthians 11, verse 1, Paul said “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” To see a great ensample of that, look at First Thessalonians 1, verse 6. In much affliction, they received the word (the “gospel of Christ”), becoming followers of Paul.

1 Thessalonians 1:7  So that ye were ensamples 
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
1 Thessalonians 1:8  For from you sounded out the word of the Lord 
not only in Macedonia and Achaia, 
but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; 
so that we need not to speak any thing.
1 Thessalonians 1:9  For they themselves shew of us 
what manner of entering in we had unto you, 
and how ye turned to God from idols….

I D O L S  !!!
Did they have IDOLS in the synagogue in Thessalonica???
Yes, they had IDOLS in the synagogue in Thessalonica!!!
That was NOT something new either.  Look at what Ezekiel grieved about in Ezekiel 8, verse 16.

Ezekiel 8:6  He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, 
seest thou what they do? 
even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, 
that I should go far off from my sanctuary? 
but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
Ezekiel 8:7  And he brought me to the door of the court; 
and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
Ezekiel 8:8  Then said he unto me, Son of man, 
dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, 
behold a door.
Ezekiel 8:9  And he said unto me, 
Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Ezekiel 8:10  So I went in and saw; 
and behold every form of creeping things, 
and abominable beasts, 
and all the IDOLS of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
Ezekiel 8:11  And there stood before them 
seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, 
and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, 
with every man his censer in his hand; 
and a thick cloud of incense went up.
Ezekiel 8:12  Then said he unto me, 
Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, 
every man in the chambers of his imagery? 
for they say, The LORD seeth us not; 
the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
Ezekiel 8:13  He said also unto me, 
Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
Ezekiel 8:14  Then he brought me to 
the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; 
and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Ezekiel 8:15  Then said he unto me, 
Hast thou seen this, O son of man? 
turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
Ezekiel 8:16  And he brought me into 
the inner court of the LORD'S house, 
and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, 
between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, 
with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, 
and their faces toward the east; 
and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

1 Thessalonians 1:9  For they themselves shew of us 
what manner of entering in we had unto you, 
and how ye turned to God from idols 
to serve the living and true God;
1 Thessalonians 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, 
whom he raised from the dead, 
even Jesus, 
which delivered us from the wrath to come.

The last part of verse 9, and the first part of verse 10, are the combined faith of the Thessalonians toward the “gospel of God”, and the “gospel of Christ”.  

1 Thessalonians 1:9b  “… ye turned to God from idols 
to serve the living and true God;
1 Thessalonians 1:10a  And to wait for his Son from heaven, 
whom he raised from the dead, 
even Jesus ….”

The remainder of verse 10, is their belief in the “gospel of Christ”.

1 Thessalonians 1:10b  “… even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

1 Thessalonians 1:9  For they themselves shew of us 
what manner of entering in we had unto you, 
and how ye turned to God from idols 
to serve the living and true God;
1 Thessalonians 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, 
whom he raised from the dead, 
even Jesus, 
which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Part 16, #28.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #28.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN THESSALONICA.

In Acts 18, when Paul wrote the epistle of First Thessalonians, including chapter 1, verse 5, about “our gospel”, he was looking back to this process that the Thessalonians had gone through. 

Firstly, Paul visited that city’s synagogue to find the Jews, 
and the scriptures in Acts 17, verses 1, and 2. 
Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Secondly, Paul reasoned with them the “gospel of God” in their own scriptures 
in Acts 17, verses 3, 
and First Thessalonians 2, verses 2, and 8, and 9. 
Acts 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
Thirdly, 1st Thessalonians 2:13, when the Thessalonians heard the “gospel of God” 
which they had heard, they RECEIVED it as the word of God.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also 
thank we God without ceasing, because, 
when ye RECEIVED the word of God WHICH YE HEARD OF US, 
ye RECEIVED it not as the word of men, 
but as it is in truth, the word of God, 
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Fourthly, in Acts 17, verse 4, the many that believed the gospel of God facts 
about the identity of Jesus consorted with Paul in his meetings, 
not related to the synagogue, probably meeting in Jason’s house. 
Acts 17:4 And some of them believed, 
and consorted with Paul and Silas; 
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, 
and of the chief women not a few.
	Remember that those "devout Greeks" ain Acts 17, verse 4, 
are the Gentiles to whom Paul referred in First Thessalonians 2, verse 16.
Fifthly, in Acts 17:5-9, and 1st Thessalonians 2:14, 3:3, 4, 
The Thessalonians suffered like things of their countrymen, 
as the churches of God in Judaea have of the Jews. 
The disbelieving Thessalonian Jews set all Thessalonica  in an uproar. 
Acts 17:5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy,
 took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, 
and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, 
and sought to bring them out to the people.
Acts 17:6 And when they found them not, 
they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, 
These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
Acts 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: 
and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, 
saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
Acts 17:8 And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, 
when they heard these things.
Acts 17:9 And when they had taken security of Jason, 
and of the other, they let them go.
1 Thessalonians 2:14 For ye, brethren, 
became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: 
for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, 
even as they have of the Jews:
1 Thessalonians 3:3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: 
for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
1 Thessalonians 3:4 For verily, when we were with you, 
we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; 
even as it came to pass, and ye know.
Sixthly , in Acts 17, verse 10, the brethren safely sent Paul away from Thessalonica to Berea, 
and many there believed. 
Acts 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away 
Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: 
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.	
Seventhly 1st Thessalonians 2:18 Twice, Paul tried returning to Thessalonica, 
but Satan hindered.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, 
even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
Eighthly Acts 17:13 The Thessalonian Jews came and stirred up the Bereans. 
Acts 17:13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica 
had knowledge that the word of God 
was preached of Paul at Berea, 
they came thither also, and stirred up the people.
Ninthly, in First Thessalonians 3, verses 1, 2, and 7, when Paul got to Athens, 
he waited in distress, 
and sent Timothy, his fellowlabourer in the “gospel of Christ” 
to establish them concerning their FAITH. 
1 Thessalonians 3:1 Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, 
we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1 Thessalonians 3:2 And sent Timotheus, 
our brother, 
and minister of God, 
and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you 
in all our affliction and distress 
by your FAITH:
Tenthly, Acts 17:15 They that were to conduct Paul 
received a commandment for Silas and Timotheus 
to come to Paul with all speed.
Acts 17:15 Paul was brought to Athens.
	Could Timothy and Paul have been on the same route? 
NO, Timothy went to Thessalonica.
Acts 17:16 Paul waited for Timotheus and Silas at Athens
Acts 17:15 And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: 
and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus 
for to come to him with all speed, 
they departed.
Acts 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, 
his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Eleventhly, in First Thessalonians 3, verse 6, Timothy came to Paul 
with news of the Thessalonians FAITH. 
1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
Twelvethly, in First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, 7, and 9, Paul was finally comforted, 
relieved of his distress, and joyful by hearing that 
the Thessalonians had FAITH in the gospel of salvation, the “gospel of Christ”. 
1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you 
in all our affliction and distress 
by your FAITH:
1 Thessalonians 3:9 For what thanks can we render to God again for you, 
for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
Thirteenthly, in First Thessalonians 3:8, 10-13, Paul was eager to continue his 
teaching, edifying, and influencing the Thessalonian believers’ growth 
to complete understanding and reliance 
on the many things God does in the believer, 
such as what he presents in his post Acts period epistles.
1 Thessalonians 3:8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 3:10 Night and day praying exceedingly 
that we might see your face, 
and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now God himself 
and our Father, 
and our Lord Jesus Christ, 
direct our way unto you.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound 
in love one toward another, and toward all men, 
even as we do toward you:
1 Thessalonians 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts 
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Part 17, still #28.

Paul knew about all thirteen of these events and stages in the Thessalonians experience when he sat down after they all had happened, and he started writing 
First Thessalonians 1, verse 1, and even 
1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, 
unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father 
and in the Lord Jesus Christ: 
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, 
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Thessalonians 1, verse 5 “our gospel”, and 
1 Thessalonians 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, 
but also in power, 
and in the Holy Ghost, 
and in much assurance; 
as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
First Thessalonians 1, verse 6 “became followers”, “having received”, and 
1 Thessalonians 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, 
having received the word in much affliction, 
with joy of the Holy Ghost.
First Thessalonians 1, verse 9 “turned to God”, and 
1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us 
what manner of entering in we had unto you, 
and how ye turned to God from idols 
to serve the living and true God;
First Thessalonians 1, verse 10 “which delivered us”. 
1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, 
whom he raised from the dead, 
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Paul knew all those events, and their response of FAITH in First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, and 7, before he even started to write his first epistle to the Thessalonians. 

So, by the Acts 18 writing of First Thessalonians, Paul knew all about what he would write in First Thessalonians 3, verses 6, and 7, that the Thessalonians had believed Timothy about the "gospel of Christ", when he was sent four verses earlier, in First Thessalonians 3, verse 1, and 2.  And that they had been saved by the "gospel of Christ" in First Thessalonians 3, not in First Thessalonians 2 or 1, or in Acts 17, verses 1-10.  Paul probably heard back from Timothy between Acts 17, verse 15, and Acts 18, verse 5, (most probably in Acts 17:15). In other words, when Paul first sat down to start writing First Thessalonians 1, verses 1,5,9-10, he already knew that they have believed, "our gospel", the "gospel of Christ" preached to them by Timothy under Paul's direction, "fellowlabouring", and sending (First Thessalonians 3:2).

1 Thessalonians 3:2 And sent Timotheus, 
our brother, 
and minister of God, 
and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, 
to establish you, 
and to comfort you CONCERNING YOUR FAITH:

So, Paul saying “our gospel” (which was a salvation gospel) does not mean that Paul preached the salvation gospel of Christ in Thessalonica in Acts 17, verses 1-10. 

Part 17, #29.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #29.
GOSPEL OF GOD.

In First Thessalonians chapter 2, when Paul clarified the gospel that he preached when he was in Thessalonica in Acts 17, he never referred to the “gospel of Christ”, or to “my gospel”, or to “our gospel” all of which were names that Paul, at that time, called his “gospel of Christ” crucified for our sins. And yet, three times in First Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul claimed to have preached the “gospel of God” in Thessalonica. Again, it is not our privilege to assume or teach that Paul must have meant something other than the inspired words of God that he said, or that he wrote. 

Paul wrote Romans 1, verses 1, through 7, as a prologue or introduction to his epistle to all that be in Rome. That entire prologue is one sentence. But, according to the context, only verses 1, through 4, are the “gospel of God”. The “gospel of God” is described or defined in Romans 1, verses 1, through 4, as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah, resurrected from the dead.

Romans 1:1  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, 
separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:2  (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Romans 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus 
Christ our Lord, 
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Romans 1:4  And declared to be 
the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, 
by the resurrection from the dead:

The "gospel of God" is entirely different from the "gospel of Christ".  God did NOT make a mistake in labeling the two groups of information or facts that he gave. The Bible never says that the "gospel of God" is a gospel of salvation. God is specific in never saying that the "gospel of God" alone saves anyone to, or from anything. It merely corrects man's rebellion against who God is, and who His Anointed is (for salvation and for kingship). The "gospel of God" is a different name of a different  group of facts, different from the "gospel of Christ". The "gospel of Christ" is the gospel of salvation according to Romans 1, verse 16, and First Corinthians 15, verses 1, through 6.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: 
for it is the power of God unto salvation 
to every one that believeth; 
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

1 Corinthians 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you 
THE GOSPEL which I preached unto you, 
which also ye have received, 
and wherein ye stand;
1 Corinthians 15:2  BY WHICH ALSO YE ARE SAVED, 
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, 
unless ye have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all 
that which I also received, 
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4  And that he was buried, 
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1 Corinthians 15:5  And that he was seen of Cephas, 
then of the twelve:
1 Corinthians 15:6  After that, 
he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; 
of whom the greater part remain unto this present, 
but some are fallen asleep.

Whenever Paul refers to the “gospel of God”, it is consistent with Romans 1, verses 1, through 4, and it is separate from, and preliminary to “my gospel”, and to “our gospel”, and to the “gospel of Christ”. The "gospel of God" is specific in its content and message.  But it is general in its application.

Paul clearly tells us three times in First Thessalonians 2 that the gospel he preached with much contention before being expelled from Thessalonica was the “gospel of God” about who Jesus is.  Paul clearly tells us in First Thessalonians 3 that the gospel fellowlabourer Timothy ministered to them was the “gospel of Christ” crucified for their sins. To try to claim that the “gospel of Christ” is the gospel that Paul preached in Acts 17, verse 2, and 3, is to pervert the “gospel of Christ”, and the scripture (Galatians 1, verse 7, Proverbs 30, verse 6).

Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; 
but there be some that trouble you, 
and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Proverbs 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, 
lest he reprove thee, 
and thou be found a liar.

Part 17, #30.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #30.
GOSPEL OF GOD USED IN THE BIBLE.

Paul preached the “gospel of God” in Acts 13, verses 30, through 37, and in Acts 17, verses 2, and 3, and in Acts 18, verses 4, and 5, and in Acts 18, verse 19. 

Peter preached the “gospel of God” in Matthew 16, verses 16, through 18 (with Christ adding the resurrection part 3 verses later in chapter 16, verse 21). 

Peter also preached the “gospel of God” in Acts 2, verses 24, through 36 and in Acts 3, verses 13, through 18, and in First Peter 1, verses 18, through 21, and vaguely in First Peter 3, verses 18, through 22.  In most of those passages, the gospel of God is presented as the necessary preliminary to the gospel of salvation for each group. 

Part 18, #31.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #31.
REJECTERS OF THE GOSPEL OF GOD END THE PROCESS.

Paul also preached the “gospel of God” in Athens in Acts 17, verses 17, through 18 with chapter 17, verses 31, and 32, but the people mocked. "SO, Paul departed from among them". 

The word "SO" indicates that it was because they did not believe the “gospel of God”, that they did not get to hear the gospel of salvation for them. Even though Christ had NOT yet SENT Paul to all men, Dionysius and Damaris likely DID get to hear the “gospel of Christ” directly from Paul, because they believed the “gospel of God” that they had heard in Acts 17, verses 17, and 18, that Jesus is the risen Messiah, and they "CLAVE" to Paul. 

Acts 17:17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue 
with the Jews, and with the devout persons, 
and in the market daily with them that met with him.
Acts 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, 
and of the Stoicks, encountered him. 
And some said, What will this babbler say? 
other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: 
because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which 
he will judge the world in righteousness 
by that man whom he hath ordained; 
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, 
in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Acts 17:32 And when they heard of 
the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: 
and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

That was not a case of Paul initially going to alien Gentiles with the gospel of salvation before he was SENT to all men, but rather, they "clave" to Paul BEFORE Paul was SENT to all men. Christ's sendings of Paul did just that, SENT him.  They did NOT restrict Paul but rather directed him.

Part 18, #32.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #32.
HOUSE OF GOD.

The "house of God" is all believers whether they are part of Israel, or part of the body of Christ. What do those “all believers” believe? Anyone that has believed the "gospel of God" that Jesus is the risen Messiah is part of the "house of God".  There are them that OBEY the “gospel of God”, and there are them that obey NOT the “gospel of God”.

First Peter 4, verse 17,  For the time is come 
that judgment must begin at the "house of God" 
and if it first begin at us, 
what shall the end be of THEM that obey not the "gospel of God"? 

So, the house of God" is all them that believe the "gospel of God". Again, the "gospel of God" is NOT a gospel of salvation. 

Peter would go on from the “gospel of God” to preach the "gospel of the circumcision" to those being saved through Israel’s covenants of promise, and commendments 
(Acts 2, verses 38, through 41, and Acts 3, verses 19, through 26).  

Paul would go on from the gospel of God to preach the "gospel of the uncircumcision" to the heathen, those not being saved through Israel’s covenants of promise, and commandments 
(Acts 13, verses 38, and 39).  

Part 18, #33.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #33.
REINTERPRETING WORDS TO FIT OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING.

In the Bible, God said exactly what he meant. It is not our privilege to interchange words, or to say that this actually means that. We can fully rely on God to have kept His word when He said He would inspire His Holy scriptures, and would preserve His Holy scriptures through copies and translations. Of course, we have to leave room for the places where God inspired the use of figures of speech.

Part 18, #34.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #34.
GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IN MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

The GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, is the name of a gospel, as in Mark’s account of "The Life And Times Of Jesus Christ". The "gospel of JESUS CHRIST is the good news of all the things Jesus Christ is recorded to have begun both to do and to teach on earth, to whom He spoke, who He healed, what he promised to Israel until the day in which he was taken up.  

The “gospel of Jesus Christ” is NOT the gospel of Jesus.  It is NOT the “gospel of Christ”. It is what God named it in Mark 1, verse 1, 

“The gospel of Jesus Christ”.

Some people say that we are in trouble if we have to believe every word of God just as it was preserved. Actually, we are REALLY in trouble if we do NOT believe every word of God just as it was preserved by God, and we are privileged to have it.. 

Proverbs 30, verse 5, Every word of God is pure: 
he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. 
Proverbs 30, verse 6, Add thou not unto his words, 
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Part 18, #35.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #35.
MAINTAIN PURITY OF THE GOSPELS.

Some people try to connect Paul's eventual (Acts 22, verses 18, and 21) apostleship (Romans 1:5-6), with the “gospel of God” (Romans 1:1-4). The “gospel of God” is God's good news about Jesus, His Son, the risen Messiah. 

Some people try to discredit what God said about the “gospel of God” by saying that Romans 1, verses 2, through 4, is a description, NOT a definition.  It is irrelevant whether it is a description or a definition.  The words of scripture still stand.  

Paul wrote Romans 1, verses 1, through 7, as a prologue or introduction to his epistle to all that be in Rome. That entire prologue is one sentence. According to the context, only verses 1, through 4, are the “gospel of God”. The “gospel of God” is described or defined in Romans 1, verses 1, through 4, as that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah, resurrected from the dead.

It is incorrect and misleading to take the “gospel of God's” good news about the risen Christ, and to try to equate that with Christ's Acts 22, verse 21, apostleship of Paul. They are two different things. Paul received the office of apostleship to all men in the temple vision, before he received Christ's actual sending at the beginning of the “gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24, Colossians 1:4-6, Ephesians 3:1-4, 8)

Romans 1, verses 3, and 4 are the "gospel of God".

Romans 1:1  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, 
called to be an apostle, 
separated unto the gospel of God,
Romans 1:2  (Which he had promised afore 
by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
Romans 1:3  Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, 
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Romans 1:4  And declared to be the Son of God with power, 
according to the spirit of holiness, 
by the resurrection from the dead:

Part 18, #36.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #36.
WHY PERVERT THE GOSPELS.

Some people slur together the separate meanings of the various gospels destroying the purity of the scripture. It also betrays their loyalty to their own opinions rather than a loyalty to the scripture. When they try to refute these scriptures about the gospels in the Bible, some people try to lump together some parts of the “gospel of Christ” information with the “gospel of God” information, and in so doing, they assign an unscriptural meaning to the “gospel of God”, while at the same time, perverting the “gospel of Christ”. 

You can't change the "gospel of God". Paul does NOT add onto the "gospel of God" its final installment of information.  Paul revealed new information for the body of Christ, beyond the "gospel of God". Peter also revealed new information for Israel, beyond the “gospel of God”, in Acts 2, verses 38, through 41 and Acts 3, verses 19, through 26.

Part 19, #37.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #37.
NOT ALL PROPHECIES ARE FULFILLED IN A GOSPEL.

Some people fail to see that the “gospel of God” is unrelated to the “gospel of Christ”. One reason that they think they are related is because the Old Testament had prophecies about the Seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, and the seed of David, the Messiah. 

Then we get to the New Testament and find the "gospel of God" identifies Jesus as "of the seed of David", and it identifies Jesus as the Messiah, and His resurrection.  Then they also find the “gospel of Christ” with its proclamation that Christ rose again the third day, referencing the same resurrection as is part of the “gospel of God”. They also see some prophecies being fulfilled by Christ, by the blood of the cross. 

Are the “gospel of God” and the “gospel of Christ” related or not?  They both reference some of the same events and facts.  BUT, they are from different sources within the Godhead, they are for different people, and they offer different promises, and they tell different things.  

The "gospel of Christ" and the "gospel of the kingdom" both are built upon the foundation of the “gospel of God”. Citing the Old Testament prophecies about Christ does not give license to include those prophecies as part of what God named the "gospel of God".  They want the "gospel of God" to be considered an open-ended good news from God, rather than what God described it as, in Romans 1, verses 3, through 4. 

The “gospel of God” tells WHO Christ is. The “gospel of Christ”/”gospel of the grace of God” tells WHAT Christ did for us. Some people wrongly try to combine the “gospel of God” with the “gospel of Christ”. Or, they insinuate to others that we Bible believers try to combine the “gospel of God” with the “gospel of Christ”.

Part 19, #38.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #38.
SOURCE OF WRONG GOSPEL IDEAS.

In First and Second Thessalonians, did Paul say "I preached 'my gospel' to you", before he sent Timothy back to the Thessalonians?  NO! It is true that they already had faith, but only faith in what they had heard, the “gospel of God”, not faith in the “gospel of Christ” that they had not yet heard.  Since nowhere in scripture is there the thought that Paul preached salvation in Acts 17, verses 1, through 4, then what might be the source of such an idea?

The faith of those Thessalonians was like the faith of those in Rome to whom Paul wrote in Romans 1, verse 8, and verses 11, through 13. 

Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, 
that YOUR FAITH is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Romans 1:11 For I long to see you, 
that I may impart unto you SOME SPIRITUAL GIFT, 
to the end ye MAY BE ESTABLISHED;
Romans 1:12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you 
by THE MUTUAL FAITH both of you and me.
Romans 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, 
that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) 
that I might have some fruit among you 
ALSO, EVEN AS 
among other Gentiles.

They had faith, but not establishing FAITH, NOT saving FAITH.  They had faith in the “gospel of God”, but they did NOT yet have FAITH in the “gospel of Christ”. They had faith that Jesus was the risen Messiah.  But, they did NOT yet have FAITH that Christ died for their sins. They had faith in what Paul said he had preached to them in Thessalonica, in Acts 17, verse 3, and named it the “gospel of God” in First Thessalonians 2, verses 2, 8, and 9.  But, they did NOT yet have FAITH in what Timothy, Paul's fellowlabourer in the “gospel of Christ” established them with so that Paul was comforted to hear from Timothy that they now did have FAITH in the “gospel of Christ”.

1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, 
and brought us good tidings of YOUR FAITH and charity, 
and that ye have good remembrance of us always, 
desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you:
1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brethren, 
we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress 
BY YOUR FAITH:

. It was only then that Paul said, 

 "we were comforted over you 
in all our affliction and distress 
BY YOUR FAITH...."

Part 19, #39.

GOSPEL MISUNDERSTANDINGS #39.
DISTINGUISHING PAUL’S EPISTLES

There is a continuity of progression in Paul's thirteen epistles of Romans through Philemon.  They all fit together perfectly.  

We will be disillusioned and wrong if we think Paul is singling out us from other body of Christ members, in his writings about the catching up, as if it must occur right now. We must apply the teaching of each section of the Bible to those to whom those teachings were intended and written. 

We will be disillusioned and wrong if we think Paul is singling out us in his writings about keeping the ordinances, as well as about not keeping the ordinances. 

We will be disillusioned and wrong if we think women must wear head coverings and men not wear them. 

We will be disillusioned and wrong if we think tongues are for us in the dispensation of the grace of God in the body of Christ, instead of only for those in a dispensation of the gospel in the body of Christ. Always identify the pronouns, and to whom each comment is spoken.

According to Philippians 4, verse 15, Paul got his wider, all-men sending in Acts 20, verse 6.  

Philippians 4:15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in 
the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, 
no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, 
but ye only.
Acts 20:6 And we sailed away from Philippi 
after the days of unleavened bread, 
and came unto them to Troas in five days; 
where we abode seven days.

What happened immediately after Christ’s SENDING of Paul with the “gospel of the grace of God”? Paul did not go straight to Philippi, Thessalonica, or Corinth. Paul went next to Troas and preached all night about the ministry he had received of the Lord Jesus, to DISPENSE THE “GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD” BY TESTIFYING. 

Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, 
so that I might finish my course with joy, 
and 
the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, 
to testify the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

Next, Paul went to Miletus to charge the Ephesian elders to oversee the feeding of the church of God in Jerusalem. That is the Bible's only information about where those ALIEN GENTILES came from in Ephesus that Paul had to hear about in Ephesians 1, verse 15.

Ephesians 1:15 Wherefore I also, 
after I HEARD OF YOUR FAITH in the Lord Jesus, 
and love unto all the saints,

Acts 20, Romans 15, and Second Corinthians 10 all have much information, all pointing to the change in Paul’s commission occurring at that time.  The change at that time was not that Paul started PREACHING salvation in Acts 18, or in Acts 20.  The change at that time was that Christ began extending Paul's SENDING to all men in the "DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD", not merely SENDING Paul to the Jews and Jew blessers in a "DISPENSATION OF THE GOSPEL", simultaneous to "a work", during Israel's "diminishing".